Masked federal immigration officers assaulting people in the streets. Two American citizens murdered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis. An internal ICE memo authorizing armed agents to forcibly enter homes with only an administrative search warrant – a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.
President Trump’s immigration crackdown hasn’t been as visible in Oklahoma, but it’s been no less pernicious. Assisted by Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Operation Guardian – which ordered the Highway Patrol and other state agencies to partner with ICE – enforcement activities have included stopping vehicles on Sooner highways based on what … the occupants’ skin color?
In other states, federal agents have detained Native Americans, sparking fears that indigenous people are being racially profiled as undocumented immigrants. That prompted the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma to warn the state’s tribal citizens to carry any tribal-, state- and/or federally-issued identification they may possess.
Amidst the violent crackdown in U.S. cities and racial profiling on streets and highways, news surfaced that ICE was eyeing an empty warehouse in southwest OKC to establish a new detention center, sparking a grassroots outcry that resulted in a packed City Council meeting.
For our latest Observercast – Everything Is Being Tested – the Rev. Dr. Lori Walke, senior minister at OKC’s Mayflower Congregational Church UCC, joins us to take a deep dive into this frightening moment in American history, including details of her recent trip with other ministers to Minneapolis, their delivery of more than 650 letters to Stitt opposing the proposed OKC detention center, and ways Oklahomans can resist the fascistic targeting of our immigrant neighbors.
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