This Is How It Starts: America’s War on Immigrants Is a National Shame

GOPocalypse Now is a satire blog. We mock the absurdity of power, hypocrisy, and authoritarianism with bite and wit. But this post is different. There’s no punchline here—only pain. What’s happening to immigrants in this country right now isn’t satire. It’s cruelty, it’s deliberate, and it’s being carried out in our name. So while I usually lead with snark, today I’m leading with my heart.

We’ve Seen This Before: America’s Shameful Return to Scapegoating

I was born in this country. So were my parents, and my grandparents before them. My father’s family came from Switzerland and Holland in the 1860s; my mother’s from Eastern Europe. But being born here doesn’t make me more American than the immigrants now being demonized by Trump, MAGA, Kristi Noem, and MTG. These are the same people cheering on inhumane policies against our fellow humans.

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A Historical Warning We’ve Learned Too Late

First the Irish, then the Italians, and now brown people—all the targets shift, but the hate remains the same.

• Irish immigrants were slammed as drunken savages and barred by “No Irish Need Apply” signs in the 1800s—despite making up ~15 % of urban populations by century’s end .
• Italians were lynched (like 11 in New Orleans in 1891) and painted as disease & crime carriers .
• Today? Latino, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern immigrants are being viciously dehumanized.

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The Dehumanization is Real—and Alive

At the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, detainees describe conditions that are nothing short of cruelty:

“No water to bathe… maggot-filled food… lights never off… mosquitoes as big as elephants…”
“We’re not dogs—we’re like rats in an experiment.”
A man had his Bible confiscated and was told: “Here there is no right to religion.” (CBS Miami)

This nightmare isn’t a horror story—it’s happening today.

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MAGA’s Puppetmasters: Hate-Mongers in Power

• Donald Trump: Urged a “harsh immigration crackdown,” promising on Jan 19 to “halt the invasion by sunset”(en.wikipedia.org, reuters.com). He’s repeatedly proclaimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”—language echoing white supremacist rhetoric.
• Kristi Noem, appointed DHS chief, went on Fox to smirk: “If you are a criminal alien… we will hunt you down.”She even labeled migrants “dirt bags” during ICE operations in NYC (dhs.gov) and pulled protections from 76,000 Hondurans/Nicaraguans—then crowed that she’s “upholding freedom” by deporting “cannibals” (vanityfair.com).
• MTG (Marjorie Taylor Greene): Blamed immigration for a “crumbling foundation,” saying foreigners “hold up the foundation walls.” An apt metaphor… if your home is built on hate (newrepublic.com).

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This Isn’t Policy—It’s Psychological Warfare

Add to that Stephen Miller’s claims that immigrants strain traffic, schools, hospitals, and crime—music to the ears of ICE agents (thedailybeast.com). And under the new "One Big Beautiful Law," Trump just gave ICE a $178 billion war chest to deport non-criminal immigrants at scale (washingtonpost.com).

It’s not border enforcement—it’s a campaign of fear, punishment, and intimidation.

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This is Nazi Germany Behavior in Disguise

Early Nazi tactics involved labeling groups as vermin, restricting civil rights, and locking people away based on identity. Today’s strategy isn’t dissimilar: Trump dehumanizes, Noem legitimizes abuse, MAGA cheers it on—and MTG amplifies the bigotry.

Historian Timothy Snyder warns these are classic early signs of democratic collapse.

✊ Now—I’m Calling Bullshit. And You Should Too.

Let’s channel our anger into action:

1. Call your senators and representatives—demand investigations into detention abuses and halting DHS’s tyranny budget.
2. Donate to RAICES, ACLU, Florence Project—groups actively defending immigrant rights.
3. Push back on hate, online and in person. Use their own words against them.
4. Vote like your conscience depends on it—local and national elections decide whether cruelty becomes law.

We won’t let this be another moment when America slips backward. We’ll stand up—or stay ashamed. Your choice.

Related Reading:
👉 Inside “Alligator Alcatraz”: Trump and DeSantis Turn the Everglades into a Migrant Prison Camp