Ali Velshi Hits Republicans For ‘Barbaric’ Dehumanization Of Immigrants

This post was originally published on this site

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi with a word of warning on where we’re heading with the right’s dangerous dehumanization of immigrants, and this boondoggle, so-called “Alligator Alcatraz.”

VELSHI: Welcome to the new American dystopia where alligators are cops and humans are treated like animals.

This might sound like an allegory dreamed up by George Orwell for my Velshi banned book club, but it’s not.

This was a real tweet posted on the official White House Twitter page AI alligators sporting ice hats, and a man assumed to be Donald Trump standing behind them.

“Alligator Alcatraz, Make America safe again.”

Deep in the swamplands of Florida, far from civilization is a virtually abandoned 39 square mile airfield. It’s surrounded by deadly wetlands and predators of the marshy Everglades, pythons, swarms of mosquitoes, and hundreds of alligators that roam the area.

This is now the site of a new migrant detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

According to Governor Ron De Santis of Florida, the facility will have the capacity to accommodate about 3000 detainees when it’s fully operational.

The first group of migrant detainees arrived on Wednesday.

The facility did not exist even last week. It was hastily constructed in a matter of days.

After giving some background on how hastily the facility was constructed and playing a clip of Trump laughing about the possibility of the prisoners there being eaten by alligators or snakes, Velshi shot back at Trump: “The President of the United States, delighting in the prospect of immigrants being eaten by alligators, a sick and twisted fantasy come to life.”

Velshi then played footage of MAGA YouTuber and Russian asset Benny Johnson, who was skewered for promoting “official Alligator Alcatraz merch” after being given a tour of the facility and making jokes about the conditions as well:

VELSHI: In a tweet, Benny Johnson, a MAGA YouTuber, likened it to Jurassic Park, but in a cool way, I guess.

JOHNSON: Welcome to Alligator Alcatraz. The entrance here is a 30 ft tall wall. None of this was here 5 days ago. It’s got razor wire on the top, just unbelievably impressive, not a fun place to be put in prison.

You do not want to go here. I’m getting swarmed at by mosquitoes right now, and we saw at least 30 alligators on our way in driving.

It is in the middle of truly nowhere. It took us an hour, a 4 hour drive to get here today. It’s crazy.

VELSHI: So sick, bro. I’d also like to point out that the 30 ft wall is a wired fence.

These potentially torturous conditions for undocumented immigrants are being monetized. It’s it’s as depraved as you can imagine.

As Velshi discussed, the Florida GOP is also monetizing this and selling merch as well before laying into all of them.

VELSHI: There’s nothing funny about this. This is sadistic glorification of human pain and suffering.

These policies and the celebration of them are meant to impose incredible anguish on thousands of humans, and if you think they’re just gonna target the most dangerous criminals, think again.

From the start, the Trump administration has said ICE would focus on the worst of the worst, end quote.

But according to analysis by the Washington Post, more than half of those removed from the country since January 2nd do not have a criminal conviction.

What’s more, as arrests increase, the share of detained migrants with a criminal conviction has been dropping.

And one thing we know about this Trump administration is that what they say is terrible, but what they actually mean is somehow even worse.

Laura Loomer, far right provocateur and Trump ally, tweeted, quote, Alligator lives matter.

The good news is alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now.

65 million. That’s a pretty specific number. It’s also the total population of Hispanic people in the United States according to the United States Census.

Loomer responded to criticism, saying she was referring to 65 million undocumented immigrants in the country, but there are not 65 million undocumented immigrants in America.

Even the harshest immigration critics can’t come up with a fraction of that number.

You may agree that our immigration system needs fixing. It does.

You may agree that criminals should be off the street, but this locking away immigrants in a swamp surrounded by alligators, masked ICE agents snatching people off the streets, detaining people who show up to their legally mandated immigration hearings, and lionizing it along the way.

This is barbaric. These are human beings, whether they’re criminals or immigrants or otherwise, this is not how civilized societies act.

There’s no mincing words here. The cruelty is the point.

If a group of people is being relentlessly dehumanized, the public will start to believe those people do not deserve to be treated like humans.

And history tells us that is a recipe for disaster.

This is not us. This is not America.

How I wish that were true. Sadly, this is exactly who we are now.