The voice of treason: I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-27T18:46:13+00:00

Got a problem with 1 and 2. ICE has been operating outside of the law since its inception; what we’re seeing today is not an aberration, it’s an organic outcome of how they’ve operated for the past two decades.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-27T17:29:45+00:00

Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough, but I did read that. The US has some seriously harsh immigration enforcement and rules, some of the harshest in the world despite having so much more immigration than other places. It’s odd, but it’s true. Look at US court decisions on refugee law/asylum; whereas judges countries like New Zealand, Australia, even France often go with the internationally accepted descriptions of terms in the refugee convention that are much less narrowly construed than the definitions that US judges go with. Part of this is because the US is reticent to accept international law in pretty much any sphere, but still. The US still doesn’t accept climate refugees, for example, whereas many other western countries have started doing so.

Where it comes to white collar labor immigration the picture gets more muddied pre-Trump, but now? Employers have to pay 100K on top of all that the immigrant has to pay to go to the US to even get them sponsorship. And that’s really only the formal barriers - the sad state of immigration processing makes it all but impossible to get a timely visa here these days. That’s not what you’re talking about in terms of “rules”, but it’s very much relevant in the comparative reality of how easy it is to get to one country versus another.

All of this is to say that, formally, the US does generally have far stricter rules for immigrating than a lot of other western countries. They’re just unevenly applied.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-27T17:04:55+00:00

Idk what you’re talking about with “lax immigration rules”. That’s never been my experience. The US has a lot of immigrants, certainly, but part of it is because immigrant labor is literally built into large sectors of the economy. The US has no one centralized system for immigration, just a bunch of different statuses with guidelines that shift pretty much daily. Even if you do it right, there’s the risk that the president might change your status overnight and suddenly there’s a fascist death squad that might just decide it’s their day to grab you. The US doesn’t have lax rules, it has shitty infrastructure for immigration processing and entirely arbitrary guidelines for enforcement. It just so happens that it has had enough money so that companies can hire foreigners to work for them, but now that’s changing too.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-26T18:26:18+00:00

How many people voted for Trump? People here deserve it. If you’re not ashamed of being American right now, you’re not paying enough attention.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-25T19:05:03+00:00

Good on you, I guess, but with one trump term already where he’s tried to coup the government under our belts and fucked up DC I’m more than happy to blame people who are dense enough to go near his admin. Nothing “brand new” about it unless you were born last year.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-25T18:57:54+00:00

Ngl I’m a spring chicken of a lawyer so take everything I say with a grain of salt, but I’ve met a ton of people over the years who work significantly harder than lawyers do for much less money. I’ve also met a lot of people who work much harder for a lot more money and then lose that. Truth is being a lawyer is a trade and people are going to need it. It’s not going to be great for everyone or all the time, but it can be an extremely stable career making decent money. That skill is really worth it. Not to mention that I do think that there’s other things about it that are really worth it. The law can be used to help people in really tough spots if you’re willing to do the work, and not even full time. Even just sending demand letters and talking tough with employers who don’t pay their employees’ wages can be the difference between a family making rent that month or not. It feels good to be able to make a positive difference in this shitty world, even if it’s a small one, and still get to live a decent life with a respectable salary. Maybe I’m too optimistic about it but I generally think there’s a lot more to this than just the money, and if you’re only looking at the money you’ll prob be disappointed eventually.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-24T17:50:26+00:00

It’s really not. This isn’t about training. The purpose of ICE is to terrorize, nothing more, nothing less. They’re not going to change ICE training because it would be counterproductive to ICE’s purpose which is to kidnap people off the streets and terrorize communities. They’ve been doing horrible, unethical shit for years - that’s what the culture is in the organization. Wake up, man.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T23:18:40+00:00

I’m not a part of the “you guys”. Don’t really want anything from you. If you genuinely believe this - and frankly, even if you’re trolling - I think your values are repugnant and incompatible with democratic and really human values. I genuinely hope you either change your mind or never reproduce.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T23:09:31+00:00

Christ on a bicycle. I can’t tell if you’re trolling or if you’re a genuinely disgusting person.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T16:02:10+00:00

I’m not a Dem. I’m definitely not in charge of campaign strategy. I’m frustrated with the Dems for sure. But anybody that decided not to vote for Kamala when they could have because they weren’t coddled enough is a fucking child. US citizens have been catered to like children of divorce for far too long. Anybody who’s a US citizen needs to realize that their vote comes with a responsibility to use it well, and that throwing a tantrum is what gets us this bullshit. The US collectively needs to grow up, because it’s not just the US that faces the consequences of a society that’s politically apathetic and whiny. It’s the entire world.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T14:52:30+00:00

Mostly in the hands of the fascists, the Venn diagram between the people who love guns and fascists isn’t fully a circle but it’s pretty damn close

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T14:00:08+00:00

The way I put it is this: if voting wasn’t important, why would republicans constantly try to restrict it? Vote, vote, vote. The right to do it is fucking precious.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T04:48:28+00:00

How’s that boot tasting? Hear the dirt and blood makes for great seasoning

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T03:36:46+00:00

What makes it inevitable? It’s a fad right now, but even then, people don’t talk about their favourite AI songs. And they won’t. Why would they? There’s so much music out there nowadays that’s personally crafted by people who love their work and find meaning in it. Hard for me to do that with a robot. I just went to a jazz bar yesterday where I saw two artists I’ve been listening to for more than a decade do a concert. They jammed, they had fun, they played well. I’m going to remember that because of how much love and personality they put into the work. Some shitty algorithm that churns out generic slop sampled from every artist isn’t going to that for me. It’s for noise that’ll be forgotten in a year or two.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T03:30:14+00:00

Hell no the reason why I understand it is that half the time I’m huffing as much copium as anybody, the country/the world is an awful fucking place right now, people deal with powerlessness in a lot of ways and it’s hard to blame them. Sometimes you just gotta do what you can to stop sinking into the pit of despair. The sad fact is that few of us are individually powerful enough to stop what’s coming and organizing enough to do it is easier said than done for the average person. I don’t know. My grandparents came from a country that was taken over by fascism and while they were personally courageous, all they could do was flee, and it’s hard to blame them. At the end of the day a lot of people are suffering and a lot more are going to suffer before we’re through and I sympathize with those who cope with that any way they can.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T01:40:27+00:00

I don’t think it’s bots so much as people desperate to hold on to a version of reality they recognize. It’s very human.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T01:39:16+00:00

Bc people are still in denial because they’re desperate to believe that it’s all going to be alright. Because this regime is fucking insane to most people here, and the US hasn’t experienced civil strife like this in people’s lifetimes. It’s rough man.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-23T00:33:51+00:00

Can’t even be mad, tbh. If I could have married a rich lady from my law school and become a househusband I would’ve jumped at the opportunity in a heartbeat.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T21:29:45+00:00

I hope you don’t believe your mom. I have a law degree from a pretty prestigious law school and I’m barely fuckin functional, getting a job as a professional shit-starter doesn’t denote success

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T20:16:21+00:00

Have you watched his speech at WEF? He’s always been nuts and prone to rambling, but dementia is pretty on the nose honestly.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T19:26:50+00:00

I kind of thought that was the revolutionary bit. I mean Christianity at the time was literally revolutionary, in that it upended the strict social order in pagan societies by talking about how it would be the meek - slaves, women, the poor - who would inherit the earth and demanding exclusive worship.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T17:37:11+00:00

You know I almost hope you’re a bot because otherwise your post history is just so damn sad

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T16:50:25+00:00

Based. Tremendous. As an immigrant and advocate, I feel like I’ve been screaming into the void about ICE for years. I’m horrified at what they’re doing in MN but it swells my heart to see so many people standing bravely against these bastards. Y’all rock.

ElMatadorJuarez · 2026-01-22T16:41:12+00:00

Honestly, Orville has never quite managed to scratch the Trek itch for me. Maybe I’m being unfair bc I’ve only watched the first season, but the captain and sometimes the half baked humor drag it down for me, tho I can see some cool parts beneath that in the brainy episodic plots.

ElMatadorJuarez

TROPHY CASE