I had another post planned for today. Something about how developers can make homes more appealing to future buyers. Floorplates, finishes, resale value. But none of it matters. Not now.
I live in Port Washington, New York. A small town, 17 miles from the city, but a world apart. My house sits on three acres with a barn and a chicken coop, the kind of quiet, slow life most people don’t associate with the New York metro area. We’re a town of 15,000. Every race. Every religion. Every tax bracket. A place where billionaires and day laborers stand side by side in the checkout line at Stop & Shop.
Or at least, we were.
Yesterday, ICE agents stormed through our town like a wrecking ball with no blueprint. No plan to root out MS-13 or high level criminals, just a ruthless sweep of working people trying to navigate the immigration system. Men and women who want exactly what we say this country stands for: opportunity, safety, a better life. They showed up at the car wash I use. Near our schools. In the pizza place where my kids walked to after class. This wasn’t enforcement. This wasn’t law. It was terror. It was a blunt, public display of intimidation, of state sponsored cruelty masquerading as justice.
Let’s be clear: Presidents from both parties have deported people. But not like this. Not with such disregard for basic human decency. This isn’t immigration policy. It’s hate with a badge and a PR strategy.
And I know what this looks like. I’ve lived it before.
I grew up in apartheid South Africa. My Jewish family fled pogroms in Lithuania only to arrive in a country where the government sanctioned the terror and dehumanization of Black people. I fled that place to come here, thinking I was running toward something better. But now, I’m watching the same machinery of hate rev up again, this time aimed at anyone who dares to be brown.
What the fuck are we doing?
Have we learned nothing?
What’s worse is that it’s not just wrong, it’s stupid. There isn’t a single page in history where this kind of brutality works long term. Not one. Because terror is cowardice, not strength. And these people, the ones who dream up and carry out this violence, they’re already losing. They’ve lost their humanity. They’ve lost their decency. And yes, they’ll lose in the long run too. They always do.
Because this, this is not who we are. Or at least it’s not who we should ever, ever choose to be.
We are better than this. And we damn well need to start acting like it.
Let's do this-
Shaun