7-Eleven, ICE, and another bad move under Trump

At what point do we conclude that the president of the United States is in an all-out war with black and brown people?

I go out of my way to be fair and keep an open mind, but today there is news that armed immigration agents descended upon 7-Eleven stores to check the status of workers. You know, the convenience store chain. Because having a 24-hour place where you can buy lotto tickets, cigarettes, and a Red Bull is the most pressing security threat to our democracy.

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I was going to say this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But this camel’s back has been broken and then stepped on repeatedly with a jackboot for the last year. Let me count some of the ways and I’m not even going to fire up the Google machine — this is off the top of my head.

In the last year, we’ve seen calls for a Muslim ban, a travel ban from minority countries, and a promise to build a wall at the Mexican border.
We’ve seen tweets attacking NFL players for not standing for the anthem. And Nazi sympathizers were called “very good people” after a woman was ran over and killed by one of them.

There have been multiple attempts to shut down the Dreamer’s program, and a push to expel 200,000 people who fled Central American violence a decade ago. Health care programs for the poor have been cut, Obamacare gutted, and tax breaks given to mostly white elites.

An ICE unit watches as agents serve an employment audit notice at a 7-Eleven convenience store Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

I’m sure if I allowed myself a few minutes to do a web search, that list could go on for another five minutes, but back to the 7-Eleven raid.

7-Eleven in the land of the free

What are we talking about here?

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ICE raided about 100 different 7-Eleven stores across the United States at once Wednesday. Every patriotic American regardless of their political persuasion should be outraged by this.

The campaign promise to “make America great again” was to go after criminals, gang members, and drug dealers. Who’s not on board with that? How did that promise transform itself into terrifying people working very undesirable and low-paying jobs.

There’s a reason why poor immigrants show up in certain job positions over and over. It’s because Americans won’t do the work.

This is wrong. This is racist. This is un-American. Unlike our president, I know the words to our National Anthem. We are supposed to be the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Not just the land of the white free and brave. Just the free and the brave. Bravery comes in every color.

You can hear “What are we talking about here?” everyday at 4:45 p.m. on 97.3 FM.

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