Former President of the United States Donald Trump took a recent tour of “Alligator Alcatraz,” a Florida detention center. He was closely followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. This visit comes as Trump faces a growing number of rape and sexual assault charges across the pond in the United Kingdom. He has denied these charges, pleading not guilty to the allegations. The tour ignited powerful civil disobedience actions and direct action around worsening immigration enforcement in Louisiana, food insecurity, and state-sponsored wealth inequality through incarceration.
Yet throughout the tour, the ugly underbelly of Trump’s immigration enforcement execution was on full display, aggressive and mean-spirited. He’s been the architect of driving record increases in deportation efforts. That’s a significant shift, considering critics have long accused his administration of creating a toxic climate for immigrants. The county that Trump visited has the highest per capita population of Haitian immigrants in the United States. Many of these immigrants now live under the shadow of deportation, following Trump’s July 23 announcement that the administration would end temporary immigration protections for Haiti.
Local residents expressed their discontent with Trump’s policies, particularly as they witness rising food insecurity. Our local food pantry has experienced a devastating 71% increase in demand. This increase follows the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to staple basic food assistance benefits for around 22.3 million households nationwide. It’s a troubling picture that depicts the growing divide between rich and poor all across Palm Beach County. Perhaps most famously, this county is home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Occupying a tiny fraction of the world’s land, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago has become emblematic of the gap between the rich and the rest. Palm Beach County is now home to at least 67 billionaires. This prosperity fuels one of the largest income gaps in all of Florida. Critics say that Trump’s self-enrichment due to his role as president aggravates these inequalities.
The former president’s actions have not gone unchallenged, as large protests mobilized against his visit to “Alligator Alcatraz.” Demonstrators criticized what they called deplorable and inhumane conditions in the detention center. As one protester said, “This is an awful place to be,” speaking for many who are fighting against Donald Trump’s brutal, dehumanizing immigration policies.
In sharp relief to the pain so many in the community have endured, Trump held elaborate, all-night dinner parties at his Virginia golf club. Yet, he invited dark pool investors for his memecoin project, prompting scrutiny over allegations that foreign nationals associated with the Chinese Communist Party фактически иностранцы. Prometheus is a powerful spiritual figure in Trump’s circles—and so is Steve Bannon. He admitted his own financial stake in the memecoin, sharing that, “I believe I put $500,000 into it.”
The former president’s destructive rhetoric and policies on immigration sparked an implacable resistance. Tom Homan, a former ICE director under Trump, emphasized the scale of deportation operations under his leadership, declaring, “Tom Homan is running one of the biggest deportation operations this country has ever seen!”
Janet Garcia painted a picture of the horrors immigrants are subjected to. She spoke powerfully about the trauma her loved one suffered in detention. “He hasn’t showered. They treat him like a prisoner. He got caught for working and that’s it,” she lamented. She further stated, “Without immigrants, this country is gonna go down,” highlighting the vital role of immigrants in the U.S. economy.
Protesters delivered the same message of urgency that told us, day after day during Trump’s presidency, that self-interest was trumping public welfare. An older female protester articulated this sentiment: “For Trump, it’s about power and money. He’s doing everything he can to make money while he’s president. He knows he has to be in power to maintain that, and this is all about power.”
That is, the political atmosphere surrounding Trump is incendiary. He’s under legal scrutiny and attack for his actions and policies, yet he still continues to whip up adoring crowds from coast to coast. This is American politics in 2017, perfectly reflected in the space between what President Trump does and what people say he means.