ICE at the Gates

I distrust patriotism. I distrust most “isms,” that is those ideas that wind up placing us in groups in order to generalize, propagandize or tribalize. But I also find myself or place myself in many such tribes. Religion, check, Political party, check, Gender, check, etc., etc. How to strike a balance? A conundrum. The conundrum of patriotism is playing out today in Newark, New Jersey, the largest city in the State. The mayor is Ras Baraka, former school principal, and son of poet and playwright, Amiri Baraka. The mayor, along with a host of other folks, is running for Governor. He is also standing up for what it means to be an honorable, patriotic citizen of the United States.

On the other side we find ICE, difficult to distinguish their behavior from that of the Nazis, but I don’t doubt that those working for or on behalf of ICE believe themselves to be patriotic. They certainly throw around words like patriotism to justify bad behavior.

The brief background is that ICE set up an immigration detention facility in Newark. Mayor Baraka asserted that ICE did not obtain the appropriate permits before opening the facility and that the facility needed to shut down. On Friday he joined others in a demonstration outside the facility, and on Friday he was arrested by ICE. Here is the link to the article on nj.com formerly The Ledger formerly the Newark Star Ledger, then theStar Ledger, and now, no longer a print publication, a story for another day. https://www.nj.com/essex/2025/05/nj-mayor-to-be-released-from-custody-spokesman-says.html. The article includes a video. Baraka was held in ICE detention for a day before a judge ordered that he be let go.

Upon his release, the mayor said, “What’s happening in America now is wrong.” He aligned himself with immigrants. Whether or not he is running for Governor, he is a man of great courage. His kind of patriotism makes me feel good. Is that a valid test? I don’t know. Every day there is a protest somewhere, but the Trump government relies on patriotism to support draconian immigration policies and nonsensical tariffs. Something’s out of whack here.

Maybe patriotism presumes a depth of civilization that simply does not exist, not even as a veneer. I’ve been reading Balkan history lately in anticipation of travel. My reading reminds me that throughout human history our tribalism has led to continuous wars, mass killing of civilians and gigantic relocation of populations from before recorded time through to today. We humans are neither nice nor kind, and our eras of tolerance and toleration are always short lived. We know this. It is not a secret, although we are skilled at choosing not to learn or to forget our own history.

But I continue to live in hope. Maybe that’s part of the human condition as well, part of why we have not, as yet, blown up the planet and everything on it. And the peonies are about to bloom, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.