Tag: citizenship

Relief (and Grief)

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Who belongs and who doesn’t? Who is a citizen and who is “alien”?

Steven Miller, advisor to the President and architect of the plan to deport millions of people out of the United States, and the Heritage Foundation (Project 2025) would have us believe that being born on US soil should NOT confer automatic citizenship. But today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of birthright citizenship! Those born in the US are “US citizens” without regard to the status of the parents.

I’m breathing a sigh of relief! “Thank you, God!” Any other decision would have put millions of people (including scores of people in my circle) at risk of being stripped of their citizenship and potentially deported — which is Steven Miller’s ultimate goal.

At the same time that I’m relieved, I also am grieved. Last week, the same Supreme Court stripped Haitians and Syrians of their Temporary Protected Status despite dangerous conditions in their home countries, and it permitted the administration to continue the practice of turning away asylum seekers at the US – Mexico border before they set foot on US soil, thereby forcing them to remain in Mexico without a clear pathway to asylum.

As I recall, God’s instructions to the Israelites in the Torah were this: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:34 – NIV) and Jesus announced blessing on those who welcomed the stranger. (Matthew 25:35)

The question of belonging and who is an American citizen has only been partially answered. If you’re born on US soil, the answer is, “you are.” But if you came into the country without documentation, or you came seeking asylum, or you arrived in this country as a child, or you were given temporary permission to come, you are and will remain an alien, vulnerable to the whims of people like Steven Miller, J.D. Vance, Mike Johnson, and Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch who voted to end birthright citizenship..

ATTENTION: ALL BIRTHRIGHT AND NATURALIZED CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. There are only 125 days until November 3. Exercise your citizenship wisely.

Dangerous ICE-y Conditions

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

And I’m not talking about the frigid temperatures and storm predictions.

What is happening in Minnesota is beyond inhumane. It is insane. Someone may accuse me of being biased and subjective, but we now have learned that the video-taped action of ICE agents breaking down the door of the home of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a US citizen, and removing him from the home in nothing but his underwear and crocs (and handcuffs)–all without a judicial warrant, was not the act of a few rogue ICE officers. It was the implementation of prescribed tactics and training authorized by ICE and DHS leadership.

Yesterday, the Associated Press obtained a copy of an internal 24-page ICE memo. The memo, signed by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on May 21, 2025, authorizes its agents to use force to enter a residence based on an “administrative warrant” (one signed not by a judge but by an ICE administrator) to arrest someone with a final order of removal.

As a citizen of the United States, Mr. Thao should have had the protection of the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probably cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be search and the persons or things to be seized.”

The probable cause claimed by ICE that permitted agents to break down Mr. Thao’s door was a suspicion that two men with criminal convictions were residing in the house. The only people in the house witnessing ICE agents break into the house with guns drawn were Thao’s daughter-in-law and his 4-year-old grandson.

Whether you live in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Annapolis, or any other polis (Greek word meaning ‘city’), this incident and ICE’s extrajudicial memo should send chills down your spine. Citizenship is no longer a protection. The rights outlined in the US Constitution are no longer guaranteed. The guardrails of rules-based law enforcement no longer apply to federal agents who can act illegally with impunity.

Unless we demand that our elected leaders step up to demand accountability and place tough restrictions on ICE leadership, you can be sure that your state and your city will experience the same trauma as Minnesota or worse. Your door may be next.