Fear in the immigrant community

I live in a major city NOT in arizona. I'm a hospice nurse. I go from home to home. I was in a suburb visiting a young patient and when I walked through the door the mom asked me if I saw any police anywhere. She said she had heard that the police were given permission to deport people and that a few women were picked up and deported without a criminal record. People in the neighborhood were living in terror about leaving their homes. They were not sending their kids to school or going to the stores. My patient's mom was saying that they are having raids at the Aldi's food store and wallmart. The father is leaving for work while it is dark out and coming home in the middle of the night. The mom is having relatives with papers do shopping for her. She had several people from the neighborhood call her during my visit and she told them "the nurse didn't see any police outside." I drove back on a different route to see if I saw any evidence of anything weird and called her back to inform her I did not. She said they might send the kids to school tomorrow.

It was Soooooo creepy. They are living in total fear of being sent back their families being torn apart and never seeing people they love again. There is nothing I can do to help what's going on to them. They live in a peaceful suburb in a little trailer park community. They don't want to go back to the big city because of the gangs.

My belief is that hundreds of years ago my ancestors were in Europe and their ancestors were crossing back and forth across the continent between what is now north and south America.

I don't know what to do but cry.

fear is older Jewish men & women who lived in Europe during the 1940s. Hopefully this will move people who are blinded by the right to see where this is headed.

countries to many peoples fearing that knock on the door not only Jews in the 1940s. I just have been to naive to think of the USA in 2010 that way.

of Jews and posible death vs a knock on the door for possible deportation is not even comparable IMO.

But, I did feel it while I was in their home. They were all scared including the kids. Yes, it's not the same as nazi Germany. But, it's VERY bad.

this is leading. First steps.

that have died in ICE custody. I don't remember the numbers but they were higher than I expected. The scale is not there but it's not unheard of and not unreasonable for this lady to have been afraid.

For many, deportation would be a death sentance.

We had to set up an escort for neighbors who were afraid to run errands.

I am a "permanent " resident. Which means that I can be deported at any time for any reason. I cannot vote, but I pay taxes.

I am required to carry government ID which contained both biometric, personal and demographic information and I MUST identify myself and hand over this ID upon any demand by any authority. The local dog catcher has the authority under the patriot act to hold me without warrent or cause. I have a distict advantage over the people you write about. I am great with accents and can speak like a native and I am white so I blend in.

Almost daily I consider leaving because the direction things are going in. If things get worse I wonder if I will get a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Will I be deported? Jailed? Held without legal council? Will I get a phone call? WIll my American wife even know what happened to me?

No one can say we haven't seen the writing on the wall. I honestly think that things are going to get much worse before they get better. If they ever get better. It has been forecast by Chomsky that the US will become the greatest threat to democracy worldwide this century. I can't say that he is wrong.

Are there other DU members who live in the States but are not citizens? Am I alone?