Kidnapping

Hey Rebels— Pixie here.

People keep saying this isn’t like Germany in the 1930s. That it’s not the same. That we shouldn’t make those comparisons.

But when you watch a government detain people who’ve done nothing wrong… when you see American citizens dragged off the street because someone thought they looked “foreign”… when even veterans—people who served this country—are arrested and held without cause… what, exactly, is different?

We don’t have to be identical to be dangerous. We just have to be familiar.

Under Trump’s second term, ICE agents aren’t just rounding up people without papers. They’re detaining U.S. citizens. Naturalized immigrants. People born here. People with valid IDs, Social Security numbers, and passports. They’re showing up at homes, jobs, courthouses. They’re staking out schools. They’re making what they call “collateral arrests,” which is just another way of saying: You weren’t who we came for, but you’ll do.

That’s how a man born in Chicago, with a valid ID and Social Security card, gets arrested looking for day labor. That’s how a naturalized U.S. citizen gets pulled over at gunpoint. That’s how a veteran with tribal identification ends up in detention. The people making these arrests aren’t verifying status first—they’re making assumptions based on race, language, zip code, and proximity.

And the ones doing this are federal Enforcement and Removal Operations teams—agents hired by the Department of Homeland Security, backed by a multibillion-dollar budget, and currently operating with very little oversight.

That brings us to another question: Who are these agents? Where are they finding them?

ICE has been expanding fast. They’re recruiting through federal hiring platforms like USAJOBS. They’re offering huge signing bonuses—$50,000 in some cases—to bring retired agents back. They’ve held career expos where over a thousand job offers were issued in a single weekend. Many of these people are former military, former law enforcement, or recent grads. Some are trained in Spanish. Some are hired through special veteran pathways. They’re not always seasoned or deeply informed. But they’re armed, they’re official, and they’re being told to ramp up fast.

So yes—people are being detained not because of what they’ve done, but because of how they look, where they are, or who they’re standing next to.

And no, the legal process isn’t as black and white as people think. A lot of folks say, “They’re here illegally, end of story.” But that’s not how it works. Seventy percent of immigrants in this country are here legally. Of those who aren’t, almost half came legally and overstayed a visa. That’s not a crime—it’s a civil violation. Many are in the middle of a lawful process, waiting years to finalize their paperwork, stuck in an intentionally broken system. That’s not “illegal.” That’s bureaucracy.

Immigrants—documented and undocumented—contribute billions to Social Security, Medicare, and local economies. Many pay taxes using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, even though they’ll never be able to access the benefits they’re paying into.

Let’s also talk about the claim that immigrants are “taking resources from citizens.” It’s one of the most common talking points—and one of the most dishonest. The truth is, immigrants are giving far more than they’re getting. They’re overrepresented in essential industries—agriculture, hospitality, construction, elder care. They do work most people wouldn’t even notice until it’s gone. They pay taxes on every dollar earned, whether through a W-2, self-employment, or using an ITIN because they’re not eligible for a Social Security number. That’s right—immigrants pay into systems they’ll never benefit from. They’re contributing to public funds that many of them are legally barred from accessing.

And when it comes to public benefits? The data doesn’t lie. Immigrants—especially undocumented immigrants—use fewer public services than native-born citizens. They’re ineligible for most federal programs, and even lawful permanent residents have to wait five years to access things like Medicaid. The myth that they’re draining the system is exactly that: a myth. It’s used to stoke resentment, to deflect from the real culprits of economic inequality—like corporate tax avoidance, wage suppression, and healthcare price-gouging.

This narrative that immigrants are the problem isn’t just wrong. It’s dangerous. Because while we’re fighting over scraps, the people at the top keep hoarding the whole damn pie.

And if none of that hits: veterans are being detained too. People who served in the military—who risked their lives for this country—are now being told they don’t belong. In California, an Army veteran with proper ID was arrested and held for days. A Puerto Rican veteran in New Jersey was taken from a warehouse while his white coworkers were left alone. A woman married to a Marine was arrested at her green card appointment while she was breastfeeding their baby. These aren’t hypotheticals. These are people. Families. Lives.

So yes, I’m saying this is like Germany in the 1930s—not because it looks exactly the same, but because the logic is the same. The silent justifications are the same. And the refusal to call it what it is… that’s the most familiar part of all.

We say we would have spoken up back then. That we would have done something. This is where we find out if that’s true.

I’m not here to perform outrage. I’m writing this because I care about the truth. Because I pay attention. Because I’m watching this country slide backward into something we’ll regret if we don’t stop it.

I know some of you don’t want to hear it. I know it’s easier to believe that these arrests only happen to “criminals,” or that the system always gets it right. But it doesn’t. And even if it did—are we okay with a country that treats people this way?

I’m not.

And if you’re not either, then speak up. Share the facts. Support immigrant-led organizations. Call your elected officials. Vote like people’s lives depend on it—because they do.

We don’t get to say we didn’t know.

But we still get to decide what we’ll do now.