"Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” Voltaire

The Nazi Holocaust during World War II didn’t begin with mechanized mass murder - but
with dehumanizing rhetoric and mass deportations. Just as Adolf Hitler accused Jews of
poisoning the bloodline of Germany, Donald Trump has claimed immigrants are
poisoning the bloodline of the United States. According to a recent October 16, 2024,
Brookings/PRRI poll, 61% of Republicans agree with Trump’s degrading statements. The
pollster from Brookings states, “That language is out of Mein Kampf … it’s Nazi rhetoric”.
Trump has also described migrants as animals and claimed that they are not human.
Trump has told his rallies that his mass deportation of 20 million will be a ‘bloody story’. A
recent September 2024 ‘Scripps News/Ipsos poll shows a slim majority of Americans,
(54%) would support the mass deportation of millions of immigrants. The same polling
shows larger majorities would support immigration reforms that limit asylum (69%), or
establish a pathway to citizenship for immigrants brought here as children (68%). A
September YouGov poll shows 52% of Trump voters believe immigrants are eating cats!
In reality - all of the cat, dog, and geese-eating rumors and lies were 100% debunked.
On October 17, 2024, Trump stood by the debunked claims at a Univision Town Hall,
saying he was “Just a reporter”. In reality - the Trump supporter who was missing a cat
found it in their basement, and it was a white guy who was hunting and killing geese.
The City of Springfield, Ohio received a deluge of violent threats from Trump’s followers.
There is a reason why comprehensive bi-partisan immigration reforms - which would
stimulate our economy and strengthen our civic fabric are preferable to the chaos and
cruelty of mass deportations and ethnic cleansing proposed by Donald Trump’s GOP!
The cost to the American economy by rounding up, detaining, housing, feeding, and
transporting 15 - 20 million human beings - would be devastating on a level never seen.
If only there was a bipartisan bill to update immigration laws - that would have
implemented changes in long-term methods to close loopholes being exploited by
criminal cartels, increased border patrol's capability to process the immigrants coming
in, increased surveillance capabilities, and end the failed catch and release program.
Since Republicans can’t run in 2024 on high inflation, a bad economy, their concepts of
plans for healthcare, or infrastructure investments, the GOP killed the 2024 bi-partisan
immigration bill on Donald Trump’s orders. The GOP has been blocking bipartisan
immigration reforms and legislation - for TWO DECADES in 2007, 2012, and 2024! Since
President Joe Biden signed executive actions to limit asylum crossings are down 77%.
The actions will likely be struck down, as were Trump's, as Congress ‘should’ legislate.

The forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands in the eastern United
States to Indian Territory in the west is known as the Trail of Tears. This mass deportation
occurred between 1830 and 1850 as part of the Indian Removal Act. Various squalls of
hate have occurred throughout American history, including those 100 years ago when
Nativists enacted the Immigration Act of 1924, limiting the number of immigrants
allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The human right
to seek asylum was incorporated into international law following the atrocities of World
War II. Approximately three million Jews – half the victims of the Holocaust – were
deported and transported to various ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination
centers. The Nazis had the assistance of police, loyal town officials, and German
citizens.” Aside from using the United States Military and local law enforcement, Trump
has offered no specifics or logistics on how his mass deportation plans would be carried
out. Seeking asylum is a legal and human right, recognized in U.S. and international
laws. Asylum seekers who arrive at the United States borders have fled their homes in
search of safety, escaping conflict, violence, Wars, and the ravages of a changing
climate. Despite the horrors of the 1940’s, it took many decades for norms and laws to
evolve. In June 1954 - Operation Wetback was a program in the United States of the
mass apprehensions and deportations aimed at 1.3 million Mexican immigrants who
had been working (legally) during the labor shortages during World War 2.
Threats to our democracy do not only come from bullets and assault rifles but also from
insipid and myopic journalism - especially from local and national legacy news outlets.
Local journalists have never reached out to ‘The New Mexico Holocaust Museum ’ or
the local elected leaders to ask them about this dehumanizing immigration rhetoric.
Our local legacy media outlets (ABQ Journal, KOB4, KOAT7, KRQE13) never bothered to
ask Mayor Tim Keller or the Albuquerque Police Department if they would allow their
officers to participate in these mass deportation raids, and if the President would offer
absolute immunity for breaking U.S. and International laws. This is not ‘Standing for New
Mexico’ or ‘Coverage you can count on’ or ‘Local Reporting you can Trust.’ Do better!

“The newspapers were laconic and noncommittal, and not only because of the paper
shortage. It was their task to aid in the total quenching of the German intellect.”
‘Students Against Tyranny - The Resistance of the White Rose’ Inge Scholl 1942 - 1943

Brian Fejer
Notes / References

More Than Half of Trump Voters Believe Haitians Are Eating Pets: Poll
https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Reactions_to_Harris_Trump_
Debate_poll_results.pdf#page=6

A new poll has revealed that more than one-third of Americans agree with Donald Trump’s
warning that undocumented immigrants in the US are “poisoning the blood” of America.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/18/election-trump-immigration-poll

NOTES - Scripps News/Ipsos Poll - September 13-15, 2024

https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/76/25/c50efe0b45bf80f50cbbb6ed38a7/scripps-news-ipsos-poll.pdf

Trump has vowed to launch a mass operation that could involve a force larger than the
U.S. Army—and he promises that it will be a “bloody story.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/186641/trump-mass-deportation-plan-incomprehensibl
e-scale
Trump says the plan is to deport up to 20 million people, nearly double the 11 million
immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization as of 2022, according to the report.

His latest comment about mass deportation are a revelation about how he feels—and
a troubling reminder of the sources of his appeal.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/donald-trump-bloody-story/679751/

"Never forget" about the Holocaust means a commitment to constantly remember the
horrific events of the Holocaust, honoring the victims, and actively working to prevent
such atrocities from happening again by combating hate and intolerance, essentially
using the lessons of the past to ensure such tragedies don't repeat.

In ‘Memories of the Holocaust 1938 - 1945 ’Banhalter, Baron, and Dittmann’ write, “I was
marched with the local Jewish population - men, woman, and children - eight or ten
hours - to a small railroad station. Nobody told us where we were going. We were
forced into railroad cars, 100 - 120 in one car - like sardines, without food, water, or
sanitary facilities. The cars were sealed and we stood there for maybe half a day before
moving. Finally, we began the slow trip to nowhere. There were children in our car- and
old people. People got sick, died, and some went insane. It was absolute, indescribable
hell. I don’t know how many days and nights we were in that living hell on wheels.
‘The Holocaust - An Unfinished History’ Dan Stone 2024 “Jews in Germany were
not simply a persecuted minority but a racial enemy whom the Nazis were
willing to murder as ‘free game’ if Jews did not or could not emigrate on their
own. What the pogrom demonstrated as well was that the Nazis could carry out
the most extreme policies with the help of police, town officials, and citizens.”
‘Of Fear and Strangers - A History of Xenophobia’ George Makari 2021

Why Trump's authoritarian language about 'vermin' matters

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary

Donald Trump says he didn’t know his immigration rhetoric echoes Adolf Hitler

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-he-didnt-know-his-immigration-rhetoric-echoes-hitler-thats-part-of-a-broader-pattern

“Facing criticism for repeatedly harnessing rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue
that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,”
Trump insisted he had no idea that one of the world’s most reviled and infamous figures
once used similar words. The Nazi dictator spoke of impure Jewish blood “poisoning”
Aryan German blood to dehumanize Jews and justify the systemic murder of millions
during the Holocaust…Among those references: “They are poisoning our country. They
are poisoning the blood of our country. They’re coming from all over the world. They’re
coming from prisons. They’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums.”

Does Trump understand the difference between seeking asylum and mental asylums?
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum/obtaining-asylum-in-the-united-states

A number of groups were targeted as enemies or outsiders. They included Jews, Roma
(Gypsies), homosexuals, and political dissidents.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/defining-the-enemy

'We are in a war': Trump ally Gen. Flynn escalates violent rhetoric against 'enemy' Harris
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country,”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/10/12/mark-milley-donald-trump-fascist/

“She’s a criminal. She’s a criminal,” said Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of
falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. “She really is, if you think about it.”

10/11/2024 Trump turns to immigration as closing appeal as edge on economy fades

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-turns-to-immigration-as-closing-appeal-as-edge-on-economy-fades/ar-AA1s6cLi
In recent days, the former president has suggested that “bad genes” are to blame for people in the
country illegally who have committed murders, reprised his warnings about a migrant “invasion” and
suggested Vice President Kamala Harris’s handling of border issues shows she is “mentally impaired.”
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin, April 2 (Reuters) - Donald Trump called immigrants illegally in
the United States "animals" and "not human"
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02/
"The Democrats say, 'Please don't call them animals. They're humans.' I said, 'No, they're not humans,
they're not humans, they're animals,'" said Trump, president from 2017 to 2021.In stump speeches,
Trump frequently claims that immigrants crossing the border with Mexico illegally have escaped from
prisons and asylums in their home countries and are fueling violent crime in the United States.

“Trump wants to complete the construction of the border wall, redirect federal law
enforcement agents to immigration enforcement, use technology to monitor and
secure the border, and "carry out the largest deportation operation in American
history," according to Trump's campaign.”
https://www.koat.com/article/immigration-explainer-2024-election/62230070
“Harris, although not as extreme as Trump with her plans on illegal immigration, wants to
improve border security and create an earned pathway to citizenship for migrants,
according to her campaign. "We can do both: create an earned pathway to citizenship
and ensure our border is secure," Harris said in September.

Former President Donald Trump spent much of the weekend discussing how he plans to make
good on his promise to conduct mass deportations, including by using the Alien Enemies Act of
1798 – a part of the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts.