A fresh wave of outrage over the Trump administration’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has surged after two high-profile events involving ICE in the span of a week: the shooting of a young father in New York City last Thursday, and the Monday morning Homeland Security Investigations raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home.
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wave → surge → home
Reporting from the Wall Street Journal suggests that the raid was a part of an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to strip the Minnesota Democrat of her U.S. citizenship.
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raid → report → citizenship
Omar arrived in the United States as a child refugee from Somalia and became a naturalized citizen in 2000, long before the start of her political career.
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Omar → arrive → career
The outspoken progressive congresswoman has since become a foe of President Donald Trump; in a statement, her spokesperson condemned the raid on her home as “an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.”
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spokesperson → become → enemies
Omar’s House colleague, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., argues this sort of weaponization is an inherent feature of the Department of Homeland Security, which was established in 2003 as part of the George W. Bush administration’s mounting war on terror.
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which → argue → terror
This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Jessica Washington speaks with Ramirez about a new bill she introduced on Tuesday to abolish DHS and what the raid on Omar’s home reveals about the department.
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raid → speak → department
“The Department of Homeland Security cannot be reformed.
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Department → reform → Security
It should be dismantled,” said Ramirez.
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Ramirez → dismantle → ?
“What they did — just three weeks from an election — was to attempt to create such paralysis on everyday people. …
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did → attempt → people
If they can do this to one of my colleagues, they can do that to anyone.
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they → do → anyone
And it should concern everyone.”
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it → concern → everyone
Washington also speaks with Rozina Ali — a journalist covering the war on terror, Islamophobia, the Middle East, South Asia, and literature — and Will Sommer, a senior reporter covering right-wing media and conspiracy theories at The Bulwark.
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Washington → speak → Bulwark
Ali and Sommer unpack the role of conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim propaganda in the attacks on Omar, and how DHS has been historically weaponized against Muslims in the United States.
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DHS → unpack → States
“Over the last 30 years, we have been conditioned to believe that Muslims, and now more broadly immigrants, are not just a threat to national security, but a threat to the American way of life,” said Ali.
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Ali → condition → life
“The right has been really eager to denaturalize Ilhan Omar for really going back a decade almost to the first Trump administration,” said Sommer.
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Sommer → denaturalize → administration
He called the investigation into Omar “one of the most striking examples we’ve seen of how the Trump administration is willing to use law enforcement to achieve its political aims and to sort of threaten its enemies.”
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administration → call → enemies
For more, listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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you → listen → podcasts
I’m Jessica Washington, politics reporter at The Intercept.
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I → ’m → Intercept
On Monday, Homeland Security Investigation agents searched the home of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
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agents → search → Omar
Reporting from the Washington Post suggests that the probe centers on allegations that Omar’s late father lied on immigration paperwork decades ago when Omar was a teenager.
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Omar → suggest → paperwork
According to a source familiar with the case who spoke to the paper, the Department of Homeland Security had previously declined to move ahead with an investigation years prior based on similar allegations.
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Department → accord → allegations
The Department of Justice has vaguely described a “federal criminal investigation,” but Omar has long been a political foe of President Donald Trump.
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Omar → describe → Trump
In a statement to The Intercept, Omar called the raid “an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.”
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Omar → call → enemies
The raid on Omar’s home comes days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck in New York City, with his 5-year-old son in the back seat.
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agent → come → seat
The incidents have reignited concerns about the violent weaponization of the Department of Homeland Security by President Donald Trump against immigrants and the administration’s perceived political enemies.
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incidents → reignite → immigrants
The group Democracy Defenders Fund filed a complaint over the raid on Tuesday, arguing it violates the Hatch Act, a federal law that restricts political activity by members of the government’s executive branch.
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that → file → branch
With early voting in Minnesota scheduled to start Friday, the group says the raid “appears to be timed to influence voters in the upcoming midterm election.”
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raid → schedule → election
Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, introduced a new bill this week to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security and abolish immigrant detention in the United States.
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Ramirez → introduce → States
I’m speaking to her on Wednesday, October 14.
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I → speak → Wednesday
First, I wanna get your reaction to the Homeland Security Investigation search of Representative Ilhan Omar’s home on Monday.
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I → get → Monday
Were you surprised by the news?
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you → surprise → news
And what do you think it tells us about how the Department of Homeland Security is operating under President Donald Trump?
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Department → think → Trump
I’m gonna tell you that, unfortunately, I’m not surprised by what happened — but it is still bone-chilling.
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it → go → you
You’re talking about a department that was created to have full authority to violate civil rights every single day, now weaponized against a sitting member of Congress — sending, I don’t know, 20 HSI agents into her home at 4:30 in the morning.
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I → talk → morning
Cruelty, complete control, and authoritarianism, and demonstrating their ability to get away with whatever they think they can, was the point of what they just did.
And it is clearly the embodiment of abuse of power.
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it → demonstrate → power
But it also shows us exactly why the Department of Homeland Security cannot be reformed.
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Department → show → Security
It should be dismantled.
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It → dismantle → ?
And that what they did — just three weeks from an election — was to attempt to create such paralysis on everyday people to believe that if they can do this to one of my colleagues, that they can do that to anyone.
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they → attempt → anyone
And it should concern everyone.
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it → concern → everyone
Anyone that cares deeply about our democracy, about our ability to exercise our freedom of speech, or to be protected from being harmed by the federal government should see what is happening to my colleague Ilhan Omar as a clear indicator that this could also happen to them, if we don’t stop them.
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we → care → them
…and 290 more, not listed.
The Aporia
