📄 Extracted Text (9,533 words)
[00:00:03] [Music]
[00:00:08] It'll be numbers that nobody can even
[00:00:10] imagine. We're going to get the drug
[00:00:11] prices down. Not 30 or 40%, which would
[00:00:14] be great. Not 50 or 60. No, we're going
[00:00:17] to get them down 1,000%,
[00:00:20] 600%,
[00:00:22] 500%, 1,500%.
[00:00:26] numbers that are not even thought to be
[00:00:30] achievable because I've
[00:00:32] used a certain talent that I have.
[00:00:35] >> I will get drug prices down 1,000%.
[00:00:40] I'm personally not a math guy, right?
[00:00:42] But I'm under the impression you can't
[00:00:43] reduce anything beyond 100%
[00:00:47] or or maybe you'll just now go to the
[00:00:49] pharmacy to pick up your prescription
[00:00:50] and get a watt of cash. We will now get
[00:00:53] paid to do drugs. That is the horror of
[00:00:57] socialism. Anyways,
[00:00:59] that was your daily moment of zen before
[00:01:02] we get into the horrors. Hello and
[00:01:04] welcome to State of Play on Mint Press
[00:01:07] News. Today we will be discussing the
[00:01:08] new Israeli propaganda
[00:01:11] being used to justify the mass
[00:01:13] starvation of Gaza, i.e. they're now
[00:01:15] blaming the UN, Gaza Health Foundation
[00:01:18] goons. We're going to talk about them,
[00:01:19] too. you know, the American mercenaries
[00:01:21] guarding the aid distribution sites,
[00:01:23] which are actually a bullet and grenade
[00:01:24] distribution site. Uh, and talking with
[00:01:28] the perfect guest for this episode, uh,
[00:01:30] Murad Aada, a strategist, organizer, and
[00:01:34] advocacy expert currently serving as the
[00:01:37] president and CEO of the New York
[00:01:39] Immigration Coalition to talk about ICE
[00:01:42] rates because it's almost like all of
[00:01:44] this stuff is connected. So stay tuned
[00:01:47] for that after this plug. Mintress News
[00:01:51] is a small independent newsroom with no
[00:01:53] corporate sponsors, demonetized on most
[00:01:55] of all platforms ever since, you know,
[00:01:57] Google Owl targeted Mint Press News for
[00:02:00] reporting during the Iraq war. Uh so
[00:02:03] yeah, we're on Patreon if you're picking
[00:02:05] up what we're putting down. Five, 10
[00:02:07] bucks a month goes a long way to keep
[00:02:09] this show going. And also the other
[00:02:13] great reporting done by everyone else
[00:02:15] that's part of the team. And you know,
[00:02:16] if you're getting nickeled and dimed
[00:02:18] capitalism, you don't have to do it.
[00:02:20] Just like, share, subscribe, get your
[00:02:23] other people to subscribe. We're really
[00:02:25] close to 100,000 viewers on YouTube. So,
[00:02:30] uh, yeah, if you could help us out with
[00:02:31] that, we'd appreciate it. We're just
[00:02:34] glad you're here. All right. So,
[00:02:38] one societal item that I wanted to
[00:02:40] discuss while everyone's still filtering
[00:02:42] in was last night's South Park episode
[00:02:46] because that show is a massive cultural
[00:02:48] engine and it's back. And what happened
[00:02:51] was not insignificant
[00:02:54] in the US political landscape. And so,
[00:02:56] basically what happened was South Park
[00:02:58] mocks Paramount settlement with Trump
[00:03:00] after creators sign a $1.5 billion deal.
[00:03:05] In the season premiere of the profane
[00:03:06] animated series, Jesus Christ urges
[00:03:10] South Park's towns people to settle a
[00:03:13] legal dispute with Trump or else they'll
[00:03:14] quote end up like Steven Coal Bear who
[00:03:17] was recently let go from Paramount
[00:03:19] apparently over criticisms of Trump. But
[00:03:21] no, I think the Colbear report talk show
[00:03:24] late night talk shows are just not
[00:03:26] lucrative anymore. Trump may have had
[00:03:28] something to do with it, but who still
[00:03:30] watches late night talk shows? I mean,
[00:03:32] there's so many. There's Jimmy Kimmel.
[00:03:34] There's Steph Steven Cob Bear. There's
[00:03:36] Seth Meyers. There's
[00:03:39] Who's that other guy who used to be on
[00:03:42] um SNL? Okay. Well, there's a there's a
[00:03:45] ton, right? Um even even John Stewart
[00:03:48] now only does one show a week. So,
[00:03:51] anyways, Steven Coar was let go. The
[00:03:54] media conglomerate Paramount announced
[00:03:56] Wednesday afternoon that the creators of
[00:03:57] South South Park had agreed to produce
[00:03:59] 50 new episodes for the next 5 years in
[00:04:02] a deal reportedly valued at $1.5
[00:04:06] billion.
[00:04:07] 10 hours later, South Park creators Matt
[00:04:10] Stone and Trey Parker excoriated
[00:04:11] Paramount uh for conceding to Trump and
[00:04:14] aggressively skewer Donald Trump. In the
[00:04:16] premiere episode of the Comedy Central
[00:04:18] Show's 27th season, I'm going to play a
[00:04:21] clip from it. Paramount is under intense
[00:04:23] scrutiny for appearing to cowttow to the
[00:04:25] Trump administration ahead of a proposed
[00:04:27] blockbuster merger. Stone and Parker
[00:04:30] were clearly riffing on their corporate
[00:04:31] parents eventful summer. So, in case you
[00:04:33] guys weren't following this story on
[00:04:34] July 2nd, Paramount agreed to pay 16
[00:04:39] million to settle a lawsuit from Trump,
[00:04:41] who alleged that CBS's 60 Minutes, who
[00:04:44] they own, had deceptively edited an
[00:04:47] interview with former Vice President
[00:04:48] Harris. CBS denied the claim, but they
[00:04:50] still settled for 16 million. Stone and
[00:04:53] Parker, of course, depict Trump as a
[00:04:55] petulant child in this episode that
[00:04:57] aired last night, recycling the
[00:04:58] animation style they used for Iraqi
[00:05:00] dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1999 film
[00:05:03] South Park, bigger, longer, and uncut.
[00:05:07] Anyways, they also make profane
[00:05:09] references to the president's anatomy.
[00:05:12] So, uh, so yeah, Servant of the Mount
[00:05:15] closes with an impar, uh, apparently AI
[00:05:18] generated video, and this is what's
[00:05:20] going around, uh, of Trump wandering in
[00:05:22] a desert and removing his clothes.
[00:05:24] Paramount spokesperson have not
[00:05:26] responded to a request for comment on
[00:05:28] the episode. And Trump has also not said
[00:05:31] anything.
[00:05:35] Who walked through the desert for you?
[00:05:40] Who survived the wilderness and gave the
[00:05:43] ultimate sacrifice?
[00:05:46] When things heat up, who will deliver us
[00:05:48] from temptation?
[00:05:50] [Music]
[00:05:52] Donald J. D.
[00:05:56] No matter how hot it gets,
[00:05:59] he's not afraid to fight for America.
[00:06:03] [Music]
[00:06:04] with conviction, discipline, and trust
[00:06:07] in God, he survived the desperate.
[00:06:12] Okay, we got to stop it. We got to stop
[00:06:14] it right there. But anyways, that was
[00:06:16] just what was going on. Um, now, uh,
[00:06:20] that's a developing story just because
[00:06:22] South Park's such a big show. Um, and of
[00:06:25] course, you know, they, uh, MAGA World,
[00:06:28] uh, responded the way they we thought
[00:06:30] they would. They're like, you know, this
[00:06:31] this goes beyond free speech. This is
[00:06:33] this is this is hate speech. This is it
[00:06:35] inciting violence.
[00:06:38] And yeah, uh that's all I'm going to say
[00:06:40] about this. Moving on. That was an
[00:06:42] important news item from my perspective
[00:06:44] because this is going to get more and
[00:06:45] more depressing as this episode goes on.
[00:06:47] But I did want to touch on something
[00:06:50] happening right now in South Asia. Um on
[00:06:52] the border war kicking off between
[00:06:54] Cambodia and Thailand. Hopefully it
[00:06:56] deescalates because Cambodia will get
[00:06:58] the worst of it. Thailand has an
[00:07:00] aircraft strength of 4. Damn it,
[00:07:04] someone's texting me. Has a aircraft
[00:07:05] strength of 493 aircraft, around 90
[00:07:08] fighters and fighter bombers. And
[00:07:10] Cambodia has 25 aircraft with no
[00:07:13] offensive capabilities really. Uh with
[00:07:15] no hope of air superiority, they're
[00:07:17] going to get hammered. But the Chinese
[00:07:19] government has direct influence on both
[00:07:21] governments. So hopefully they're going
[00:07:23] to step in and try and deescalate. Why
[00:07:26] is this happening? Oh boy. Well, in
[00:07:28] short, border disputes um existent from
[00:07:31] French colonial occupation and rule. I
[00:07:34] lived in South Asia for a time. I'll do
[00:07:36] a segment next week if it escalates over
[00:07:38] the weekend. But like most things, we
[00:07:40] can trace its history back to
[00:07:42] colonialism. Now, let's get into the
[00:07:45] main stuff. All right, here we go.
[00:07:49] This is the main thing I want to talk
[00:07:51] about in terms of foreign affairs. The
[00:07:53] blockade of Gaza is getting worse and
[00:07:55] worse and worse. I'm just going to quote
[00:07:57] some of this u cosmitarian foundation
[00:08:00] intercept article. Um basically they're
[00:08:03] boasting their entire engagement there
[00:08:05] as a success.
[00:08:08] Uh what we're doing has actually been
[00:08:09] unbelievably effective said the chair of
[00:08:12] the Israelbacked US aid group. So
[00:08:15] basically on the same day um Gaza health
[00:08:19] officials reported that at least 20
[00:08:20] Palestinians died of malnutrition in the
[00:08:22] strip's hospitals over the past two
[00:08:24] days. It's actually been more of that.
[00:08:26] We think it's up to 90 now. An American
[00:08:28] official in charge of delivering food
[00:08:30] amid Israel's restriction of aid
[00:08:32] declared his program a success. We're
[00:08:35] going to talk about who he is. Johnny
[00:08:37] Moore. Uh but yeah, from his
[00:08:40] perspective, it is a success cuz look
[00:08:42] who he was talking to. Quote, "We've
[00:08:43] been filling a massive gap in a way
[00:08:45] that's direct to the people that
[00:08:47] prioritizes the security of the
[00:08:49] situation and this very complex
[00:08:50] environment." Unquote. Johnny Moore said
[00:08:53] the chair of the Gaza Humanitarian
[00:08:55] Foundation on Tuesday uh during an event
[00:08:58] hosted by American Jewish Congress and
[00:09:01] joined by the World Zionist Organization
[00:09:03] continuing and despite what you may read
[00:09:05] in the press and the criticism that you
[00:09:07] hear from the United Nations and other
[00:09:10] institutions that what we're doing has
[00:09:11] actually been unbelievably effective as
[00:09:14] Palestinians continue to starve to death
[00:09:16] of course in Gaza. Moore, an evangelical
[00:09:19] minister and former religious adviser to
[00:09:21] the Trump administration. He was one of
[00:09:23] the guys who was like putting on all the
[00:09:24] prayer meetings in the White House, has
[00:09:27] spent the past several weeks defending
[00:09:28] his organization's works. He's appeared
[00:09:30] on mainstream TVs. He's been on
[00:09:31] pro-Israel podcasts. Don't even get me
[00:09:34] started on Netanyahu's Neelk Boys
[00:09:36] interview. He and his foundation have
[00:09:39] messaged in lockstep with the Israeli
[00:09:41] government. You know, it's a it's a firm
[00:09:44] out of Delaware, right? Um but it has
[00:09:48] strong ties to Zionist organizations. Um
[00:09:52] yeah and
[00:09:54] basically they continue to uh control
[00:09:58] the aid and this is kind of important
[00:10:00] because this Gaza humanitarian
[00:10:03] foundation is not there to do anything
[00:10:05] humanitarian. I myself talked to two
[00:10:08] Marines who when I when I was in DC
[00:10:11] applied for the Gaza Humanitarian
[00:10:13] Foundation as a defense contractor job
[00:10:16] and
[00:10:18] they even though they were infantrymen
[00:10:20] they had combat experience. They were
[00:10:23] denied. They said they didn't have
[00:10:24] enough and that they were primarily
[00:10:26] looking for special operations guys. As
[00:10:28] a former special operations guys I don't
[00:10:30] know how to run checkpoints.
[00:10:32] We didn't run checkpoints. I don't know
[00:10:34] how to distribute aid logistically. It's
[00:10:37] not our skill set. It's literally the
[00:10:39] worst like job description you can have
[00:10:42] in the military, a special operations
[00:10:44] background for humanitarian operations.
[00:10:46] It's absolutely insane. So, what exactly
[00:10:49] are we doing? Well, a Gaza whistleblower
[00:10:51] or sorry, a GHF whistleblower spoke to
[00:10:54] channel 11 uh channel 12 in Israel two
[00:10:57] days ago and um I think most of the
[00:11:00] interview has been scrubbed. I can't
[00:11:02] find it on Instagram. Can't find it on
[00:11:04] YouTube. Can't find it on the internet.
[00:11:07] Um, but uh I think the new Arab still
[00:11:10] had a short um up on YouTube from it.
[00:11:16] >> It looked like she had been killed. I
[00:11:18] was standing next to these two women and
[00:11:20] this contractor throws this sun grenade
[00:11:22] and it lands in between me and them.
[00:11:25] This thing hit her and she just drops
[00:11:27] just lifeless claps to the ground.
[00:11:32] former Gaza former guard has come
[00:11:34] forward with explosive testimony.
[00:11:37] Speaking to Israel's channel 12, he
[00:11:39] described extreme and unjustified
[00:11:42] violence at US.
[00:11:44] >> As the Palestinians were finishing
[00:11:46] getting the aid that was on the site,
[00:11:48] the UG solutions personnel began um
[00:11:51] shooting shooting in their direction,
[00:11:53] shooting at them um shooting at their
[00:11:55] feet, shooting into the burns to get
[00:11:56] them to leave.
[00:12:00] [Music]
[00:12:04] [Applause]
[00:12:06] [Music]
[00:12:10] Aid groups say the entire model is
[00:12:12] militarized. Meanwhile, in his Arabic,
[00:12:14] Israeli governments first in a speech
[00:12:16] denied the global outcry against the
[00:12:17] girl's actions in Gaza and blamed Hamas
[00:12:20] for the famine.
[00:12:21] >> There is no famine caused by Israel.
[00:12:23] There is however a man-made shortage
[00:12:27] engineered by Hamas. The suffering
[00:12:29] exists because Hamas has made it so.
[00:12:33] >> Okay, I mean that's that's been the
[00:12:34] age-old messaging, but I woke up this
[00:12:37] morning and they sent out the Zionist
[00:12:40] bat signal to all the genocidal
[00:12:43] propagandists on X and this is what
[00:12:46] we're pivoting to. Um, standby. again. I
[00:12:50] don't know why I hadn't had this pulled
[00:12:52] up. Just, you know, I'm sorry. Um, it's
[00:12:56] the end of the week, you know, and and
[00:12:58] everyone's exhausted and this new cycle
[00:13:00] is insane. So, we're all just trying to
[00:13:01] do the best. So, who's like the worst?
[00:13:04] Who's one of the worst propagandists?
[00:13:06] Well, let's do it. Let's pull it up. So,
[00:13:12] Aviva
[00:13:14] Complas. There we go. new release is um
[00:13:18] Standup Nation. She's coming out with a
[00:13:21] new new book. Is Israeli resilience in
[00:13:24] the wake of disaster. Co-founder of
[00:13:27] Boundless, former head of speech writing
[00:13:29] at the Israeli mission to the UN. Um
[00:13:32] from Toronto and Jerusalem, New York
[00:13:35] City, and Boston.
[00:13:38] Okay. Um she posts so much, so I'm going
[00:13:41] to have to scroll down through this.
[00:13:44] All right. Endless trucks of food are
[00:13:48] sitting inside Gaza, but the UN won't
[00:13:52] distribute them. The GHF updates, the
[00:13:55] Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which we
[00:13:57] were just talking about, the murderous
[00:13:58] idiots, have offered to securely deliver
[00:14:01] all this food to Palestinian, but the U
[00:14:04] Palestinians, but the UN refuses. Maybe
[00:14:07] they missed the good old days when Hamas
[00:14:09] skimmed the aid, sold it for profit, and
[00:14:13] used the cash to fund their terror army.
[00:14:16] And of course, she always gets ratioed
[00:14:19] in the comments. God stop. Um, yeah. How
[00:14:24] many UN aid workers have they murdered?
[00:14:28] Um
[00:14:30] yeah, the same GHS whose former security
[00:14:32] guard exposed them for pepper spraying
[00:14:34] starving civilians, throwing stung
[00:14:35] grenades at women, firing live rounds at
[00:14:38] aid drops. Yeah. Uh it's it's that's
[00:14:41] just what they're they're they're just
[00:14:42] now pivoting to mass starvation and
[00:14:45] blaming the UN on it because
[00:14:46] international institutions no longer
[00:14:48] mean anything and we don't listen to
[00:14:50] them anymore. And what we have to
[00:14:53] understand is we're about to talk about
[00:14:55] the politics of displacement here in
[00:14:58] like the next five minutes and
[00:15:02] why there is there's some challenges
[00:15:04] around ethnically cleansing the gaz
[00:15:07] gazins uh moving them to different
[00:15:09] countries. We've talked about this many
[00:15:11] times. Uh we're just going to put it
[00:15:13] into more of like a theoretical
[00:15:15] framework, but the bottom line is
[00:15:18] there's nowhere for them to go. So they
[00:15:20] just have to keep playing this out and
[00:15:22] playing this out and playing this out.
[00:15:23] And hopefully one day there'll be no one
[00:15:26] left in Gaza. And that's what they're
[00:15:27] that's what that's why they're doing
[00:15:29] these propaganda shifts back forth back
[00:15:31] forth. So we are going to talk about
[00:15:34] displacement today. We're having
[00:15:36] displacement via ICE operations in
[00:15:39] Palestine. So the US is actively engaged
[00:15:42] in two primary zones of displacement.
[00:15:45] again Palestine and with regards to
[00:15:48] illegal immigrants and now nationalized
[00:15:50] citizens here in America. All right, but
[00:15:53] what are the politics of displacement?
[00:15:55] And I just want to first say that this
[00:15:57] is the same issue Palestine ICE because
[00:16:01] it's the same system. We we're we're
[00:16:03] done mobilizing against issues. We're
[00:16:06] now organizing against systems. So it's
[00:16:09] just functioning in different ways. And
[00:16:11] it's something we've talked about before
[00:16:13] but haven't really defined it. And that
[00:16:16] is the politics of displacement. And the
[00:16:19] politics of displacement encompass the
[00:16:20] ways political forces, institutions, and
[00:16:24] ideologies shape the movement and
[00:16:26] resettlement of populations. It examines
[00:16:30] how displacement is not just a
[00:16:32] consequence of conflict or natural
[00:16:34] disaster, but also a deliberate tool
[00:16:37] used for political and strategic
[00:16:40] purposes. This includes the displacement
[00:16:42] of specific groups to gain territory,
[00:16:45] create uh create homogeneous zones or
[00:16:47] consolidate political power.
[00:16:50] Consolidating political power is what
[00:16:52] we're seeing in America. Gaining
[00:16:53] territory is what we're seeing in
[00:16:55] Palestine. It is strategically driven by
[00:16:58] political actors seeking to achieve
[00:17:01] specific goals. Understanding these
[00:17:03] political motivations is crucial for
[00:17:05] comprehending the dimensions of conflict
[00:17:09] of human rights abuses and the
[00:17:11] challenges of achieving durable
[00:17:13] solutions for displaced populations. So
[00:17:18] in Palestine, we know what we're looking
[00:17:20] at. We are looking at territorial
[00:17:22] control and ethnic cleansing. Uh, one
[00:17:25] problem that they're having with getting
[00:17:27] everyone out of Gaza right now is the
[00:17:30] regional actors see it as what we would
[00:17:33] call weaponized migration. Whether or
[00:17:36] not Israel is trying to weaponize
[00:17:37] migration or not, the performative
[00:17:39] effect is it is weaponized migration
[00:17:42] against Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, like
[00:17:47] um Uganda, like wherever they'd go.
[00:17:49] Because in some cases, and I'm not
[00:17:52] saying this is what Israel necessarily
[00:17:53] wants, it's definitely not what the
[00:17:55] United States wants in Egypt with the
[00:17:57] Suez Canal, Jordan, who's a major
[00:17:59] military ally, um Lebanon, which they're
[00:18:02] trying to secure and um and normalize
[00:18:05] with Israel. But in some cases, and this
[00:18:07] the performative effect again if they
[00:18:09] were to move these populations out,
[00:18:10] displacement is deliberately engineered
[00:18:13] and manipulated by state or non-state
[00:18:16] actors as a tool of coercion or
[00:18:19] geopolitical influence. So this can
[00:18:21] involve destabilization,
[00:18:24] moving populations, generating largecale
[00:18:27] refugee flows to strain resources. They
[00:18:30] strain resources. They fuel xenophobia
[00:18:34] and internal strife, you know, which
[00:18:36] we're seeing with the the w rise of
[00:18:38] white nationalism in Europe that was
[00:18:40] really exacerbated by the Syria conflict
[00:18:42] and our dirty proxy war involvement in
[00:18:44] there and caused political instability
[00:18:47] in neighboring states, right?
[00:18:49] Destabilization,
[00:18:51] extracting concessions as well,
[00:18:53] threatening or creating migration crises
[00:18:56] to pressure other states into making
[00:18:58] political or economic concessions.
[00:19:00] that's not really so much at play here
[00:19:02] with Jordan or Egypt. But the main
[00:19:05] problem here because you know you have
[00:19:06] the bedawin and the sinai that the
[00:19:08] Egyptian government is still engaged
[00:19:10] with a lowgrade counterinsurgency
[00:19:11] against and the population of Jordan
[00:19:14] which is already mostly Palestinian
[00:19:17] demographic engineering strategically
[00:19:21] resettling populations to alter the
[00:19:23] ethnic or political makeup of a region
[00:19:26] potentially creating voting blocks or
[00:19:28] justifying future territorial compla
[00:19:31] claims.
[00:19:32] and you know mass migration, it's
[00:19:36] actually a threat on a state's
[00:19:40] sovereignty. So this is why it's so um
[00:19:44] challenging and we we can talk about
[00:19:46] like the different issues between like
[00:19:47] Egypt, Jordan, and other countries in
[00:19:49] the region and Europe and the United
[00:19:50] States, but we're seeing this with our
[00:19:53] own like xenophobia. It's like a threat
[00:19:55] on sovereignty. And we're going to look
[00:19:56] at a video by Matt Walsh, one of um Ben
[00:20:00] Shapiro's co-hosts at the Daily Wire.
[00:20:04] Uh talk about how like they're
[00:20:06] threatening our sovereignty. So
[00:20:08] demographic engineering and this is why
[00:20:10] moving them again into these countries
[00:20:13] doesn't work and why Europe is done with
[00:20:15] this and why the United States won't
[00:20:17] take them. No one will take them. So
[00:20:18] what we're having to do from their
[00:20:21] imperial perspective is play for time.
[00:20:23] Distract, distract, distract. Release
[00:20:26] the If you can't release the Epstein
[00:20:28] files, release uh PL Project Blue Beam
[00:20:31] and give us like alien extraterrestrial
[00:20:34] life. Destabilize, play for time, and
[00:20:37] exploit the situation until everyone is
[00:20:40] dead. Because there's really no
[00:20:42] political solution to voluntary
[00:20:44] migration. There's not. So, this is why
[00:20:47] we're seeing that. That's why we're not
[00:20:48] seeing any real concrete plans for
[00:20:51] voluntary migration be put into effect.
[00:20:56] All right. But here in America, you
[00:20:59] know, it's a little bit different. It's
[00:21:01] all for profit and political
[00:21:02] consolidation. States or groups in power
[00:21:07] will displace or may displace
[00:21:09] populations to eliminate political
[00:21:11] opposition,
[00:21:12] silence disscent, or reshape
[00:21:15] demographics in their favor. This is the
[00:21:18] kind of displacement that's happening in
[00:21:19] the United States via ICE. Um, this also
[00:21:23] can involve targeting areas with high
[00:21:25] opposition support like Democratic
[00:21:28] states like LA, New York, Michigan, or
[00:21:33] creating a presumption of loyalty or
[00:21:34] disloyalty based on movement or staying
[00:21:37] patterns. Uh, that's less at play right
[00:21:39] now. It's more about shoring up
[00:21:40] political support. They're they're
[00:21:42] seeing not what they can get away with,
[00:21:44] but how fast they can get away with it.
[00:21:47] uh they're coming from political
[00:21:48] dissident under the pretext of you know
[00:21:51] coming after minorities. That's what
[00:21:54] they're doing. And both Palestine
[00:21:58] and the United States are seeing
[00:22:01] different types of the politics of
[00:22:05] displacement playing out under the same
[00:22:09] system.
[00:22:11] Okay. Um, and I I would also like to to
[00:22:14] add that we're having to be super shady
[00:22:17] about the ICE stuff because also we
[00:22:19] don't really have anywhere to put them.
[00:22:21] Um, the SECT was a sending the you know,
[00:22:25] El Salvador and SECOT was a PR disaster.
[00:22:30] They're sending the wrong people. Um,
[00:22:33] you know, he he told uh the the dictator
[00:22:36] of El Salvador, the world's coolest
[00:22:37] dictator, Boule, uh, that they're going
[00:22:39] to have to build 10 more. But we're
[00:22:41] going to have to give them money to
[00:22:42] build Ted Moore. Uh you know, when B
[00:22:45] Kelly came to visit the White House a
[00:22:47] little bit after Trump's inauguration,
[00:22:50] uh and yeah, there's nowhere for them to
[00:22:52] go. So, we're sending them to random
[00:22:54] countries and small little groups and
[00:22:56] planes that don't really have, you know,
[00:22:58] really good flight manifests and stuff.
[00:23:00] So, we don't really have to put them
[00:23:01] either. Um so, what we're having to do
[00:23:04] is build camps. And there is a new camp
[00:23:07] being built right now specifically for
[00:23:10] this per uh purpose. And again, I just
[00:23:13] wanted to point out that this is the
[00:23:15] politics of displacement. And because of
[00:23:18] the politics of displacement in
[00:23:20] Palestine, they have nowhere to go. So
[00:23:21] what are they going to do with the West
[00:23:22] Bank? The Knesset just voted um to
[00:23:27] formally annex all of Palestine. Well,
[00:23:30] okay, they can vote that, but where are
[00:23:31] the Palestinians going to go? Uh they're
[00:23:34] not thinking rationally about this.
[00:23:36] They're just going to try to put them
[00:23:38] into refugee camps. Uh displace all the
[00:23:40] Palestinians in the West Bank into
[00:23:42] refugee camps, put it under siege until
[00:23:45] they all die. It's not going to work,
[00:23:49] but they're going to try it. So that's
[00:23:50] what's happening there. And they're
[00:23:52] building more and more camps here, which
[00:23:55] is what we are getting into in this next
[00:23:59] coming segment. All right. Cheers y'all.
[00:24:02] I don't think we'll have enough time for
[00:24:04] a Q&A in this next segment of um with an
[00:24:08] ICE activist organizer strategist uh
[00:24:12] ends abruptly. So, it's it's going to be
[00:24:14] kind of jarring, but we're kind of
[00:24:15] flying by the seat of our pants today.
[00:24:18] Uh stand by and you guys are awesome.
[00:24:22] All right, for our next segment here on
[00:24:24] State of Play on Mint Press News, we are
[00:24:26] joined by Morad Aa, a strategist,
[00:24:29] organizer, and advocacy expert currently
[00:24:31] serving as the president and CEO at the
[00:24:33] New York Immigration Coalition to talk
[00:24:36] about ICE raids because it's almost like
[00:24:39] all this stuff is connected. Our last
[00:24:41] segment before we started, we were
[00:24:42] talking about the Gaza Health
[00:24:44] Foundation. So, he's the son of a uh
[00:24:46] Palestinian immigrants. Morad was uh has
[00:24:48] dedicated over two decades of his life
[00:24:51] fighting for low-income communities of
[00:24:52] color across the state of New York. Um
[00:24:54] he's been featured in Vice and the
[00:24:56] Huffington Post and was honored with a
[00:24:58] US Congressional Recognition and Public
[00:25:00] Service Awards from the um NYS Senate
[00:25:03] and Assembly. He serves as a trustee
[00:25:07] of the New York University Family Health
[00:25:10] Centers Board and as a member of the
[00:25:12] Justice 2020 committee and as
[00:25:14] commissioner of the New York City Civic
[00:25:16] Engagement Commission. Thanks so much
[00:25:18] for coming on.
[00:25:19] >> Thank you for having me.
[00:25:20] >> So, I've been asserting for a while now
[00:25:22] that there's no daylight between the war
[00:25:24] state abroad and the police state at
[00:25:26] home. ICE now has a bigger military
[00:25:28] budget than the Marine Corps. They are
[00:25:31] using Israeli and American-driven AI
[00:25:33] spyware and predictive policing uh tech
[00:25:35] developed by the US military and Israeli
[00:25:38] defense contractors tested on
[00:25:40] Palestinians in Gaza in the West Bank.
[00:25:41] And now we are seeing this more and
[00:25:45] more. And if you're just listening to
[00:25:47] the audio version of this episode, we
[00:25:50] are looking at a Democracy Now article
[00:25:53] headline from about an hour ago before
[00:25:55] time of recording. Trump administration
[00:25:58] to spend 1.2 2 billion dollar building
[00:26:01] the largest US immigration jail in
[00:26:04] Texas. The the problematic thing about
[00:26:06] this that I've been warning about um
[00:26:09] it's supposed to be on Fort Bliss Army
[00:26:12] base in Texas. There's so much free
[00:26:15] space at uh Fort Bliss because it is a
[00:26:19] massive artillery uh site. So there's a
[00:26:22] lot of open ranges and yeah, they're
[00:26:24] just going to be disappeared into that.
[00:26:26] Uh now of course you know we've we've
[00:26:30] seen this before. During World War II,
[00:26:32] the US government forcibly relocated and
[00:26:34] incarcerated over 120,000 people of
[00:26:37] Japanese descent in 10 concentration
[00:26:39] camps primarily out in similarly
[00:26:41] isolated locations in the western
[00:26:44] interior of the country. And these camps
[00:26:46] were established under executive order
[00:26:48] 9066 issued by uh FDR. But before we get
[00:26:53] into the overall system, you are
[00:26:55] currently in uh New York and we saw some
[00:26:58] pretty shocking footage leaked yesterday
[00:27:00] from your organization.
[00:27:13] center at 26 Federal Plaza in New York
[00:27:16] and during there's just thermal blanket
[00:27:20] >> on the floor crammed into a small room.
[00:27:23] I imagine it's hot. U they've denied
[00:27:26] claims of overcrowding and inhumane
[00:27:28] conditions, but uh this ain't it.
[00:27:31] [Applause]
[00:27:34] And people are being detained for days
[00:27:36] or weeks at a time, sleeping on the
[00:27:37] floor with no showers or change of
[00:27:39] clothes and with minimal food and
[00:27:40] outside contact. Uh what exactly are we
[00:27:44] looking at here, Mad?
[00:27:46] >> What we're looking at is
[00:27:48] the truth, and we've been seeing this
[00:27:51] for several months now that the
[00:27:52] Department of Homeland Security and ICE
[00:27:53] were using the 10th floor of 26 Federal
[00:27:57] Plaza, which is a federal administrative
[00:27:59] building, as a detention site. And I
[00:28:02] think that they know um that if it were
[00:28:05] categorized appropriately then it would
[00:28:08] be subjected to congressional oversight.
[00:28:11] We've taken congressional members uh
[00:28:13] like Congresswoman uh Nidia Velasquez,
[00:28:15] Congress member Adrianiano Espot, Dan
[00:28:17] Goldman, and Jerry Nadler uh separate
[00:28:20] times to try to get access to the 10th
[00:28:22] floor because as per you know the law,
[00:28:25] they have the ability to inspect these
[00:28:27] facilities that are detention centers.
[00:28:29] And ICE has consistently said it's not a
[00:28:32] detention facility, it's a processing
[00:28:33] center. Um, and we tried getting them to
[00:28:36] define how they make, you know, how do
[00:28:38] they justify the difference? If
[00:28:40] someone's being detained somewhere for
[00:28:42] several days or several weeks, um, is
[00:28:44] that a detention facility? We believe it
[00:28:46] is. And the Department of Homeland
[00:28:49] Security continues to say it's not. So,
[00:28:51] that video which we released earlier
[00:28:53] this week illustrates the conditions
[00:28:55] that people are being held in, right?
[00:28:56] They're having very little uh to no
[00:29:00] food. they're getting, you know, limited
[00:29:03] and no access to the outside world. Um,
[00:29:06] and sort of like a black site at this
[00:29:08] point where if you're in it, you're in
[00:29:11] it and then you're not actually able to
[00:29:13] get contact outward. So, it's been
[00:29:16] really uh horrible to see continue
[00:29:21] in this moment, but also at the same
[00:29:23] time, you know, we're demanding that our
[00:29:25] congressional leaders take action,
[00:29:27] right? And the vast majority of the
[00:29:29] people who are actually at 26 Federal
[00:29:30] Plaza in that detention facility
[00:29:33] shouldn't even be detained to begin
[00:29:34] with. These are people who are going
[00:29:36] through the process to get their status
[00:29:38] and their relief seeking justice and
[00:29:40] safety and then what they're faced with
[00:29:42] is injustice. They're being tricked and
[00:29:44] trapped to go to 26 Federal Plaza and
[00:29:47] then detained and disappeared simply for
[00:29:50] following the process that the
[00:29:51] government has outlined for them to seek
[00:29:54] and then receive status in this country.
[00:29:57] So, this reminds me about uh
[00:30:00] establishment of black sites. I think we
[00:30:02] saw this. One second. Let me pull it up.
[00:30:06] Uh share screen.
[00:30:09] Um in New Jersey a couple I think it was
[00:30:12] a couple months ago. Uh New York uh
[00:30:15] Newark New Jersey mayor sues feds over
[00:30:18] arrest outside of ICE facility. So, New
[00:30:20] York Mayor Raz Baraka is suing federal
[00:30:23] officials over his May 9th arrest
[00:30:25] outside an immigration detention center
[00:30:26] alleging malicious prosecution and false
[00:30:28] arrest. And I know that was a huge uh PR
[00:30:31] problem for ICE at the time. So,
[00:30:35] are you under the impression that
[00:30:36] they're doing this now so they don't
[00:30:38] have to deal with that ever again?
[00:30:39] >> Well, they continue to use these
[00:30:41] different sites for detention. They
[00:30:43] already have over 60,000 people
[00:30:45] detained. The most that we've ever had
[00:30:47] at a given point in six months. They've
[00:30:49] detained 60,000 people. And it's just
[00:30:52] outrageous. The vast majority of people,
[00:30:53] there was data that was released earlier
[00:30:55] this week that shows that the majority
[00:30:58] of people that they're currently
[00:30:59] detaining now have no criminal
[00:31:01] convictions, right? Um, and that just
[00:31:04] should be giving people pause. They're
[00:31:06] investing all this money, you know,
[00:31:08] through the reconciliation process and
[00:31:09] the big ugly bill, which was the largest
[00:31:12] wealth transfer in US history of giving,
[00:31:16] you know, the ultra wealthy tax breaks
[00:31:18] on the backs of cutting health care,
[00:31:21] SNAP, which is food benefits and housing
[00:31:23] subsidies to make sure that the
[00:31:24] billionaires get, you know, a few extra
[00:31:27] million dollars, which they don't really
[00:31:29] even need to begin with. And then tucked
[00:31:32] into that bill was the most money that
[00:31:36] ICE has ever received and Department of
[00:31:38] Homeland Security has ever received of
[00:31:39] over 170 billion dollars. That's more
[00:31:42] money than all of our federal agencies
[00:31:44] get, law enforcement agencies get
[00:31:46] combined. That's more than the Russian
[00:31:48] military's budget. So it should tell you
[00:31:51] how the United States government is
[00:31:53] really prioritizing the American people,
[00:31:55] which is that they are not. And they
[00:31:57] don't care about the many. They only
[00:31:58] care about the few. And that's what
[00:32:00] they're going to continue to push. So
[00:32:01] they need these different things, you
[00:32:04] know, to be in the limelight sometimes
[00:32:06] so they can get away with taking away
[00:32:08] people's rights. And that's what they're
[00:32:10] doing in this moment. They're testing
[00:32:11] the limits of our democracy so that we
[00:32:13] can be pushed further into an
[00:32:14] authoritarian state. And really, you
[00:32:17] know, the test subjects right now are
[00:32:19] immigrants. And what they're saying is,
[00:32:20] well, these people don't have rights in
[00:32:22] this country. But the US Constitution
[00:32:24] never mentions US citizenship as why you
[00:32:27] have the right. there's, you know, uh,
[00:32:30] constitutional protections are entitled
[00:32:33] to everyone in this country. There's
[00:32:36] case law that also says that. So,
[00:32:38] they're trying to see what they can get
[00:32:39] away with so that they can then flip it
[00:32:41] and then use it on uh, others who they
[00:32:44] don't have the same political beliefs,
[00:32:45] which we're already seeing them target
[00:32:47] civil society and so on and so forth,
[00:32:50] >> right? And, you know, whatever they're
[00:32:52] willing to do to Palestinians overseas
[00:32:53] or immigrants here, they are willing to
[00:32:56] do to you eventually. And you know, I
[00:32:59] from my perspective, it's not
[00:33:00] necessarily what they're trying to get
[00:33:02] away with cuz we know what they're
[00:33:04] trying to get away with, but how fast
[00:33:06] that they can do it. Um, so obviously
[00:33:09] that's a part of it, but this entire
[00:33:12] thing is completely forprofit. So, um,
[00:33:17] I was wondering, I was hoping you could
[00:33:18] talk about the for-profit prisons that
[00:33:20] are being constructed and are there any
[00:33:22] in New York? Are you protected from that
[00:33:24] because you're sanctuary u state or
[00:33:27] city?
[00:33:28] >> Um we well you know we do have federal
[00:33:32] land in New York across the state and in
[00:33:35] New York City. Um what we're seeing
[00:33:37] right now is New York City has uh 2011
[00:33:41] Bareric Street which is used as a
[00:33:43] holding place until people are able to
[00:33:45] get transferred out. And then in upstate
[00:33:46] New York and Betavia we have the Betavia
[00:33:48] Detention Center. Uh and that those two
[00:33:51] sites are actually federally run. Um,
[00:33:53] they're also using other sites now like
[00:33:56] in Orange County, they're using the
[00:33:58] Orange County Jail. And then on Nassau
[00:33:59] County, uh, the county executive signed
[00:34:02] the 287G agreement, which pretty much
[00:34:04] deputizes local law enforcement to do
[00:34:07] federal immigration enforcement. Um, and
[00:34:09] they're using the jail out there as
[00:34:11] well. So, when you look at what they
[00:34:13] what you mentioned earlier about, you
[00:34:15] know, that base in Texas using $1.2 2
[00:34:18] billion
[00:34:19] to support uh you know the creation of
[00:34:22] 5,000 beds. That's $240,000
[00:34:26] per bed per person. So it's like is that
[00:34:30] what we really want to be spending our
[00:34:31] money on as Americans in this moment
[00:34:33] when people don't have food, people
[00:34:35] don't have access to health care, people
[00:34:37] are struggling to make ends meet, we're
[00:34:39] dealing with an affordability crisis
[00:34:40] that continuously gets worse. I think
[00:34:42] those are the sort of questions that
[00:34:44] aren't being answered in this moment
[00:34:46] because they don't want to answer them.
[00:34:47] And at the same time, we just saw
[00:34:49] horrific floods in Texas where people
[00:34:53] had no forewarning that they were
[00:34:55] happening. And where is the efforts to
[00:34:58] support the recovery of those
[00:35:00] individuals who have lost everything?
[00:35:03] Entire communities were wiped out in
[00:35:05] these floods.
[00:35:06] >> Yeah. You know, it just it just help
[00:35:08] makes you wonder like where are the
[00:35:09] actual priorities instead of investing
[00:35:11] that 1.2 2 billion and creating a
[00:35:13] concentration camp on a US military
[00:35:16] base. Why not invest that in actually
[00:35:18] helping Texans who have been impacted by
[00:35:21] the floods rebuild? Yeah, I know. As a
[00:35:24] Texan, I definitely see, and I don't
[00:35:25] want to sound conspiratorial because
[00:35:27] it's not like we have a historical basis
[00:35:28] for anything like this, but ICE will, I
[00:35:30] think, eventually morph into something
[00:35:32] else and then be retasked to uh keep the
[00:35:35] climate refugees in line in the coming
[00:35:37] years. So hot take I guess. But um now
[00:35:41] talking seeing what we're seeing in New
[00:35:43] York, you know, we've seen the the
[00:35:46] epicenter of this effort be Los Angeles
[00:35:50] so far. Of course, you know, we're
[00:35:51] seeing reports now that it's happening
[00:35:52] in Denver, obviously Florida, in my home
[00:35:55] state of Texas. Like I'm in Austin. It's
[00:35:58] not being published at all, but we know
[00:35:59] ICE is around here and stuff like that.
[00:36:02] Um, but New York, uh, we saw Tom
[00:36:05] Hammond, uh, one of my favorite Obama
[00:36:08] appointees, Obama's borders are back in
[00:36:10] the day, who's now, uh, part of the
[00:36:12] Heritage Foundation, is now running
[00:36:14] political cover for Donald Trump. He
[00:36:17] said that, you know, we're going to go
[00:36:18] in and essentially try to break New York
[00:36:21] City. So, have you seen a heightened
[00:36:22] effort in ICE operations or heightened
[00:36:24] tempo in ICE operations in uh, New York?
[00:36:28] Well, from day one, we've seen increase
[00:36:30] in enforcement across the state of New
[00:36:31] York. We've seen them raid farms. We've
[00:36:33] seen them raid construction sites, uh,
[00:36:36] you know, raiding communities. And I
[00:36:38] think what they're also doing at the
[00:36:40] courts is the most injust part of this,
[00:36:43] right? And going after people simply for
[00:36:46] seeking safety from the lives that they
[00:36:48] had to flee in most cases because of US
[00:36:51] foreign policy, right? Yeah. like we
[00:36:54] create foreign policy that impacts
[00:36:57] people negatively on the ground in those
[00:36:59] countries and then they flee seeking
[00:37:02] safety from persecution and other forms
[00:37:04] of violence and then when they come here
[00:37:07] seeking that safety and refuge we turn
[00:37:10] our backs on them. Um so I think for the
[00:37:13] moment that we find ourselves in uh we
[00:37:16] have been already flooded. They
[00:37:18] continuously flood New York. And Tom
[00:37:20] Hman's comments the other day weren't
[00:37:22] just necessarily about, you know,
[00:37:24] flooding New York City because we're New
[00:37:26] York City. He's saying he's targeting us
[00:37:28] intentionally because we're a sanctuary
[00:37:31] city. And, you know, we don't have the
[00:37:32] best mayor of our history in New York
[00:37:35] City right now. Um, he's someone who's
[00:37:38] brokered a deal with the Trump
[00:37:40] administration to avoid prosecution.
[00:37:42] >> And just for the audience, so we're
[00:37:44] we're talking about Eric Adams, right?
[00:37:45] >> Yes.
[00:37:46] >> Yes.
[00:37:47] um the king of swagger. Um and you know,
[00:37:51] he he has done everything in his power
[00:37:53] to try to work with the Trump
[00:37:55] administration in this moment. Uh he
[00:37:57] tried getting them back into Riker's
[00:37:58] Island. For those who don't know,
[00:38:00] Riker's Island, 80% of the population of
[00:38:02] people who are currently there are
[00:38:03] pre-child detention, which means they've
[00:38:05] not been convicted of anything. Um and
[00:38:08] there's a law against having ICE on
[00:38:10] Riker's Island. So he walked around that
[00:38:12] law and tried doing it through an
[00:38:13] executive order which the New York City
[00:38:15] Council um bravely took to court and got
[00:38:19] a temporary restraining order on. So I
[00:38:21] think you know he's doing what he wants
[00:38:23] in this moment to try to appease the
[00:38:25] Trump administration for helping him
[00:38:26] out. Um, and Tom Hman is trying to do
[00:38:29] everything in his power to get our
[00:38:31] policies rescended so that they can
[00:38:33] then, you know, militarize our local PD
[00:38:37] to help ICE conduct the raids that
[00:38:40] they're doing. Um, so, you know, his
[00:38:43] threats, he's been saying he's going to
[00:38:44] do this. They have been doing it
[00:38:45] already. Um, you know, everyone is
[00:38:48] concerned about what would happen if
[00:38:50] what they did in California does happen
[00:38:52] in New York City. And I think that while
[00:38:54] California has enormous amount of
[00:38:56] resources and a great infrastructure uh
[00:39:00] of civil society, it it's just
[00:39:02] unfathomable to think that that's going
[00:39:04] to happen to us. And you know, we're
[00:39:06] having conversations about what that
[00:39:08] looks like, what our response is. You
[00:39:10] know, I think as institutions, we all
[00:39:12] want to make sure that people are as
[00:39:13] safe as possible, that the directly
[00:39:14] impacted individuals know their rights,
[00:39:16] that they have access to the legal
[00:39:18] representation, and you know, New
[00:39:20] Yorkers are gritty, and New Yorkers
[00:39:23] don't like when people [ __ ] with our
[00:39:24] people. I don't know if I'm allowed to
[00:39:26] curse here, but
[00:39:27] >> you're No, it's it's all good.
[00:39:29] >> We're not we're not CNN.
[00:39:31] >> You know, we have uh you know, a very
[00:39:34] active civil society in New York City.
[00:39:36] Um and people are going to stand up for
[00:39:38] their neighbors. their family members
[00:39:40] and their communities. Um, and we know
[00:39:42] that they're going to do that in
[00:39:43] peaceful ways. So, they're going to try
[00:39:45] to say that, you know, quote unquote,
[00:39:47] we're I'm doing air quotes here. We're
[00:39:48] rioting, but we're not. We're going to
[00:39:50] be protesting to uh defend our people
[00:39:53] and our communities,
[00:39:55] >> right? And I I just wanted to go back um
[00:39:58] to something uh you you brought up, the
[00:40:02] the police being mobilized to uh assist
[00:40:05] with ICE officers. Uh, so I I've
[00:40:07] interviewed uh some National Guardsmen
[00:40:10] who were mobilized in California and
[00:40:12] some uh who were mobilized in Florida
[00:40:15] and they did not like the assignment at
[00:40:18] all. At least that's what they told me.
[00:40:20] Um,
[00:40:22] knowing the NYPD, how much would they
[00:40:25] relish doing this kind of work if they
[00:40:29] get mobilized to assist with ICE?
[00:40:31] >> Well, one, they can't because it's
[00:40:32] illegal. Uh, it'll violate our local
[00:40:34] laws.
[00:40:36] Um, but we've already been seeing them
[00:40:38] work and collude with ICE in violation
[00:40:41] of our local laws, right?
[00:40:43] >> So, I think I've literally yesterday,
[00:40:46] this is such a random conversation
[00:40:48] today, but yesterday had a conversation
[00:40:50] with someone who's in the National Guard
[00:40:52] for New York
[00:40:53] >> and they were like, "We didn't sign up
[00:40:55] for this. If they try doing this here,
[00:40:57] there's a lot of us who aren't going to
[00:40:58] want to participate." Um, and that's
[00:41:01] just the message that I keep hearing
[00:41:02] from everyone, including NYPD officers
[00:41:05] who are like, "We never signed up for
[00:41:07] this." NYPD is being used by this
[00:41:09] administration. Our local mayor is using
[00:41:12] them as like a one-stop shop to all the
[00:41:13] issues, right? Mental health crisises.
[00:41:15] He's sending NYPD uh, you know,
[00:41:19] >> public issues, everything. He's using
[00:41:22] them as the uh, anecdote and the
[00:41:25] solution. And that's not their job. and
[00:41:26] they know that that's not their job,
[00:41:28] which is why there's such low morale um
[00:41:31] amongst them. So, I think if you add
[00:41:33] another layer of [ __ ] that they have
[00:41:35] to deal with, they're going to be pretty
[00:41:37] incest to we're also seeing the most
[00:41:40] officers retire in this moment and
[00:41:42] getting out of the PD because of the
[00:41:44] increased demand on the [ __ ] that they
[00:41:46] have to do that's not their job,
[00:41:48] >> right?
[00:41:49] >> Um
[00:41:50] Yeah. And so we've been hearing like Sky
[00:41:54] News reported a couple like a month ago
[00:41:56] that like ICE officers morale were down
[00:41:59] a lot, but I don't know this this new uh
[00:42:01] expansion of the ICE budget is really
[00:42:03] going to pump up their salary numbers as
[00:42:05] well. So I'm sure that will assale
[00:42:07] issues as well.
[00:42:09] Yeah, I think you know there's a limit
[00:42:11] to
[00:42:13] how much you unless you really are
[00:42:16] ingrained in,
[00:42:18] you know, destroying people's lives and
[00:42:20] that's your motive in life,
[00:42:23] I don't know how much people can or
[00:42:25] would want to take of having to do some
[00:42:27] of this stuff,
[00:42:28] >> right?
[00:42:28] >> Um, and I'm not trying to give ICE
[00:42:30] agents any cover because I'm seeing them
[00:42:32] literally disappear. people were showing
[00:42:34] up for court on a daily basis in 26
[00:42:36] Federal Plaza and at 290 Broadway and at
[00:42:38] 2011 Barrack Street uh in New York City,
[00:42:42] but I think in this moment they put
[00:42:44] these astronomical quotas that they have
[00:42:46] to meet and they don't care how they get
[00:42:49] to those numbers. They just need to meet
[00:42:51] those numbers. So, if they're detaining,
[00:42:53] you know, green card holders, TPS
[00:42:55] recipients, people with status and
[00:42:58] people who are seeking status, um, it
[00:43:02] becomes sort of a numbers game to them
[00:43:04] as opposed to, you know, the target of
[00:43:06] what they were trying to do, which is
[00:43:07] quote unquote going after the most
[00:43:09] violent individuals, um, which we're not
[00:43:12] seeing them do. You know, I I was I was
[00:43:15] uh being interviewed on uh Breaking
[00:43:17] Points like a couple weeks ago, and this
[00:43:20] this all just reminds me of, you know,
[00:43:22] before my political transformation uh
[00:43:24] when I was in a special operations unit
[00:43:26] in Afghanistan. They were like, "We need
[00:43:28] it was under Obama, and it was unspoken
[00:43:30] like, we need quotas." I was like, "We
[00:43:31] don't have the intelligence to be going
[00:43:34] out every night against like high value
[00:43:36] targets." Well, they're just like,
[00:43:38] "Well, hit hit likely or suspected
[00:43:41] targets." and you know there was just
[00:43:42] nothing there. Um and we call them dry
[00:43:45] holes and we freak a bunch of people out
[00:43:47] and this kind of seems like it's our
[00:43:50] kind of imperialism now turning in on
[00:43:52] itself and we've entered this um new age
[00:43:57] of impunity because governments learn
[00:43:59] from each other. We've kind of seen the
[00:44:00] the ditching of international law over
[00:44:02] the past two years. Uh there's been a
[00:44:04] lot of transmission between different
[00:44:06] western militaries and ICE and the NYPD
[00:44:10] and the Israeli Defense Forces and
[00:44:11] Shinbet and stuff and this kind of like
[00:44:14] impunity uh in terms of just
[00:44:16] disappearing people holding them in ad
[00:44:19] uh administrative detention is very like
[00:44:21] reminiscent of like IDF stuff. Uh I was
[00:44:24] wondering if you had any thoughts on
[00:44:25] that. Yeah, I think that this is one
[00:44:28] thing that you know the world can go
[00:44:31] hungry, but the one area and one
[00:44:32] industry that will never go hungry is
[00:44:34] the military-industrial complex.
[00:44:36] >> Yeah,
[00:44:37] >> they will never go hungry. If you look
[00:44:40] at all the resources we're investing in
[00:44:42] them here and whatever foreign aid we
[00:44:44] give to other nations for military aid,
[00:44:47] it's going through the
[00:44:48] military-industrial complex, right? like
[00:44:50] it's to buy weapons from US military uh
[00:44:53] companies that are selling these bombs,
[00:44:56] the bullets, the guns to destroy other
[00:44:58] people's lives and decimate people,
[00:45:01] commit genocides and get away with it,
[00:45:03] right? And that's what we're seeing
[00:45:04] happen in real time in Gaza. Um and that
[00:45:08] same sort of mentality is being used
[00:45:11] across the board. And while it may not
[00:45:12] be bullets and bombs here in New York,
[00:45:15] what we're seeing is the same tactics of
[00:45:18] disappearing people, um, you know,
[00:45:21] putting people in detention indefinitely
[00:45:23] because they're saying that people don't
[00:45:25] have rights because they're in jail and
[00:45:27] it's not even a real jail because it's a
[00:45:28] detention site and detention sites are
[00:45:30] not jails. They're supposed to be, you
[00:45:32] know, immigration isn't a criminal
[00:45:34] violation. It's a civil violation. Um,
[00:45:37] >> like parking tickets.
[00:45:38] >> Yeah. And we should thank, you know,
[00:45:41] Bill Clinton who in 1994 passed horrible
[00:45:45] laws and then furthered by Barack Obama
[00:45:47] who actually deported the most people.
[00:45:50] So, one thing that always happens is
[00:45:51] what we see,
[00:45:53] you know, Democratic leaders, you know,
[00:45:56] actually implement the horrible rhetoric
[00:45:58] we're seeing from the other side. And
[00:46:00] then now we set up the moment where all
[00:46:03] these policies, all the infrastructure
[00:46:05] that was built under previous
[00:46:06] presidencies, Donald Trump is
[00:46:08] weaponizing against the immigrant
[00:46:09] communities today. And we're not just
[00:46:11] talking about people who don't have
[00:46:13] status. We're talking about people who
[00:46:14] have status. And now they're saying that
[00:46:16] they're going to start going after US
[00:46:17] citizens who've been naturalized to
[00:46:19] denaturalize them. So the the moments
[00:46:22] we're living in right now, I think, are
[00:46:24] really critical. If we want to say we
[00:46:26] are a democracy, we need to fight to
[00:46:28] stay a democracy because every single
[00:46:31] pillar of that democracy is being
[00:46:32] attacked by this administration and we
[00:46:34] need people to fight back or we're going
[00:46:37] to just end up in a an authoritarian
[00:46:39] state, which many communities will tell
[00:46:40] you we already feel like we were in an
[00:46:42] authoritarian state. our city, our
[00:46:44] state, across this country. Um, but
[00:46:47] everyone's going to start feeling that
[00:46:48] relatively soon,
[00:46:50] >> right? And then one one comment I want
[00:46:52] to make about you bringing up the
[00:46:54] military-industrial complex. We no
[00:46:55] longer have the power projection as a
[00:46:57] kind of like a dying empire uh to wage
[00:47:00] forever wars overseas. So, if you can't
[00:47:02] do it over there, well, this is a
[00:47:04] perfect opportunity to have another
[00:47:06] forever war right here in our own soil.
[00:47:07] So, we've entered again in this age of
[00:47:11] new age of impunity. um where you know a
[00:47:14] lot of you can make the bold assertion
[00:47:16] that a lot of ICE actions are patently
[00:47:19] non-constitutional and there's not a lot
[00:47:21] of checks going on they're not really
[00:47:22] being challenged by the Democrats which
[00:47:25] are the opposition party uh we know
[00:47:28] throughout like ISIS history that there
[00:47:30] was founded or at least expanded under
[00:47:33] every Democratic administration it's
[00:47:35] baked into the national security state
[00:47:37] uh which and surveillance state which
[00:47:39] they uh Obama really really expanded
[00:47:42] beyond the Patriot Act. Uh what are you
[00:47:46] and what are activists
[00:47:49] and organizations like yours trying to
[00:47:51] do to
[00:47:52] uh categorize ICE actions or try to hold
[00:47:55] them accountable or is that even
[00:47:57] possible right now?
[00:47:59] >> Yeah, every level of government has a
[00:48:00] role to play in accountability. We need
[00:48:03] our local level of government. You know,
[00:48:05] just recently our city council passed
[00:48:08] the budget which increased immigration
[00:48:09] legal services by $50 million, which is
[00:48:12] great, but we need to go further. So,
[00:48:14] it's great to also see our mayor uh just
[00:48:17] recently and I think today issued a
[00:48:19] letter um asking, you know, Department
[00:48:22] of Homeland Security to understand
[00:48:24] what's happening in their building,
[00:48:25] which has been being reported for months
[00:48:27] at this point, um and wants to inspect
[00:48:30] it because it shouldn't be actually used
[00:48:32] as a detention center. that's not what
[00:48:34] it's used for, right? So, it becomes a
[00:48:37] building's inspection issue and a fire
[00:48:39] issue, but we also need the mayor to put
[00:48:42] his his money where his mouth is, right?
[00:48:44] Like, you need to also invest in the
[00:48:46] supports that we know are going to be
[00:48:47] helpful and ensure that he doesn't walk
[00:48:49] around our sanctuary policies at the
[00:48:51] local level. At the state level, we need
[00:48:53] the state to step up and pass New York
[00:48:55] for All Act, which would prohibit state
[00:48:57] agencies from colluding, which we're
[00:48:59] seeing local PDs outside of New York
[00:49:01] City colluding with immigration
[00:49:04] enforcement to trap people and traffic
[00:49:05] stops where they just pull someone over
[00:49:07] just because they look Latino or look
[00:49:09] like they could be someone from
[00:49:11] somewhere else and then somehow ICE or
[00:49:14] Border Patrol show up two seconds later
[00:49:16] and detain the individual. So the New
[00:49:18] York for Act would stop those types of
[00:49:20] practices from happening. And at the
[00:49:23] federal level, we need our entire
[00:49:24] federal government to stand up
[00:49:25] regardless of your political
[00:49:26] affiliation. This is a moment that
[00:49:28] people need to really question our
[00:49:30] constitutional rights and they shouldn't
[00:49:33] be thinking that some people deserve it
[00:49:35] and some people don't. Because if that's
[00:49:36] the case, then no one has constitutional
[00:49:39] rights and we need them to uphold the
[00:49:41] law. And I know that that sounds weird
[00:49:43] in a moment that we're seeing them being
[00:49:45] flagrantly against and undermining the
[00:49:47] law, but if we don't have the foundation
[00:49:50] of our democracy, which is our US
[00:49:52] Constitution being upheld, then what do
[00:49:54] we have? So, our federal reps need to
[00:49:56] step up, hold this administration
[00:49:58] accountable, ask the Department of
[00:50:01] Homeland Security what specifically is
[00:50:03] happening, and then start taking back
[00:50:04] some of the resources that they or take
[00:50:06] away all the resources that they just
[00:50:08] gave them because what they're using
[00:50:10] that money for is going to be to
[00:50:12] continue to harm families and separate
[00:50:14] families, gut our communities. And
[00:50:17] overall, if we're a capitalist country,
[00:50:19] this should be a huge red flag for
[00:50:22] everyone because the economic driver of
[00:50:24] this nation is actually immigrants,
[00:50:26] right? Just to give you one example of
[00:50:28] that, if you just look at agriculture,
[00:50:31] right?
[00:50:32] >> 70% of the workforce there are
[00:50:34] immigrants. It's a $1 trillion industry.
[00:50:37] And who are they targeting? Farm
[00:50:39] workers. So, if you're doing that, who's
[00:50:42] going to be supporting that industry
[00:50:44] moving forward? Healthcare. 30% 40% of
[00:50:48] those workers are immigrants and if you
[00:50:51] and they have been attacking health
[00:50:53] workers as well and detaining them. So
[00:50:54] if you look at the grand scheme of the
[00:50:56] way in which every single person who's
[00:50:59] watching this is life is impacted. I can
[00:51:01] assure you you will have a much harder
[00:51:03] life because of this mass deportation
[00:51:05] agenda that the Trump administration is
[00:51:07] waging right now because every single
[00:51:10] aspect of your existence is supported by
[00:51:12] the communities that are being targeted
[00:51:14] right now.
[00:51:16] Yeah. Um well that's what you as the
[00:51:18] material conditions continue to degrade
[00:51:20] that's what the the expansion of the
[00:51:22] police state is for keep people in line
[00:51:25] maybe. Uh yeah and there there is some
[00:51:28] ideological uh fragmentation happening
[00:51:30] around in MAGA circles about this and if
[00:51:32] you have another five minutes I'm just
[00:51:34] going to bring this up real quick
[00:51:37] from earlier
[00:51:38] >> some of the most sh
[00:51:40] >> so MAGA influencer uh says reparation uh
[00:51:43] representative Maria Alvivera Salazar is
[00:51:46] not American and should should go back
[00:51:48] to Cuba. The mega influencer is Matt
[00:51:51] Walsh who is a selfdescribed Christian
[00:51:54] fascist
[00:51:56] direct quote and this is this is the uh
[00:51:59] this is the ideological line that's
[00:52:00] driving this
[00:52:01] >> for moments in our past as a country
[00:52:04] relates to how we have treated
[00:52:06] immigrants who are not criminals.
[00:52:10] >> What do you mean by our what do you mean
[00:52:12] by we Maria? Okay, you're Cuban. Your
[00:52:16] greatest priority is to destroy our
[00:52:17] national sovereignty and identity. You
[00:52:19] talk about American history like it's
[00:52:20] something to be ashamed of. So there's
[00:52:22] no we here. You're not American. You
[00:52:25] clearly don't like this country or
[00:52:27] identify yourself with it. You want to
[00:52:29] talk about we go back to Cuba and talk
[00:52:31] about we. I mean this is the kind like
[00:52:33] how dare you come here and start telling
[00:52:35] us that we aren't allowed to have a
[00:52:36] country anymore. Okay? How dare you come
[00:52:38] here and tell us that oh you're not no
[00:52:40] you're it's shameful. This it's shame.
[00:52:43] You should be ashamed. How dare s get
[00:52:46] the hell out. Seriously.
[00:52:49] >> So that's the main thrust. You know,
[00:52:51] there's not much more intellectual or
[00:52:53] emotional curiosity beyond that. Um I'm
[00:52:56] just wondering like how sustainable this
[00:52:58] will be over the next years.
[00:53:01] >> Well, they're trying to make it as crazy
[00:53:04] as possible to break down the systems as
[00:53:07] quickly as possible so that there is no
[00:53:09] way of an agrieved individual getting
[00:53:11] justice, right? Um and you know that
[00:53:14] comment and his comments that he just
[00:53:17] shared right now are actually like
[00:53:19] ludicrous. I think that that this always
[00:53:21] goes back to the sense of you know uh
[00:53:24] ownership who owns something or someone
[00:53:27] and this nation was built on the takings
[00:53:31] from our indigenous siblings who have
[00:53:34] been who were massacred in this country
[00:53:36] so that we can build this country.
[00:53:38] Right? And then for over 200 years,
[00:53:41] people were enslaved in this country to
[00:53:42] build it. And then after that, that's
[00:53:45] when immigrants started also coming in
[00:53:48] to help continuously build this nation.
[00:53:50] So I think once you hear things like
[00:53:53] that, it makes you really wonder what
[00:53:56] how are they defining the words that
[00:53:58] they're using? Because how I hear it is
[00:54:01] him saying that he doesn't think anyone
[00:54:04] who isn't like him should be here. And
[00:54:07] this is a country of immigrants. There's
[00:54:10] no ifs ands or buts about it. And
[00:54:13] unfortunately, every wave of immigrants
[00:54:15] who have come here over the past 200
[00:54:17] years have faced uh different adversary
[00:54:21] adversary.
[00:54:23] >> We got it.
[00:54:25] >> You know what I mean?
[00:54:26] >> Um who's who faced different challenges
[00:54:29] that uh the previous generation faced as
[00:54:32] well. But every other generation has
[00:54:35] faced the otheringness, right? So, it's
[00:54:38] just horrific when you hear people say
[00:54:41] that. It just like he's dabbling in like
[00:54:44] white supremacist ideology um and
[00:54:47] targeting a congressional member uh and
[00:54:49] telling her to go back to the country
[00:54:50] she comes from.
[00:54:52] >> Yeah. I mean, he's one of the big uh one
[00:54:54] of the big guys at Daily Mail. The other
[00:54:56] big guy is Ben Shapiro. So, this is not
[00:54:59] surprising. He is a self-described white
[00:55:00] supremacist as well and a Christian
[00:55:02] fascist. But, you know, that's kind of
[00:55:03] like driving this ideology. But he's
[00:55:05] like, "Okay, get out. Get all the
[00:55:06] immigrants out. Then what?" You know,
[00:55:09] this is kind of why it seems bleak right
[00:55:11] now, but it's just not a sustainable
[00:55:13] model. And I do want to give some people
[00:55:15] hope about that. Like, first of all, I
[00:55:18] have a military background. It's just
[00:55:20] logistically not possible. It's just
[00:55:23] not. um
[00:55:25] >> even with the you know yes it's
[00:55:28] logistically not possible practically
[00:55:31] not possible but they're going to try
[00:55:33] right
[00:55:34] >> and they're going to destroy as much as
[00:55:36] they can to get to a point where they
[00:55:38] can say look we delivered on our promise
[00:55:40] and I think that their promise is you
[00:55:44] know completely opposite of the American
[00:55:47] promise of a nation where all people who
[00:55:51] live here have rights are living in a
[00:55:54] democracy where people can participate
[00:55:55] in their government and actually be able
[00:55:57] to build a nation for the future
[00:56:00] generations. It's just really uh a
[00:56:03] moment where people need to take a step
[00:56:04] back and ask themselves, do I really
[00:56:06] believe in this democracy that we're
[00:56:08] living in and do I want to make it
[00:56:09] better or am I okay with it collapsing
[00:56:12] and us going into a fascist
[00:56:15] authoritarian regime?
[00:56:17] >> Yeah,
[00:56:18] might happen at least for a time, but
[00:56:20] you know those never last. they, you
[00:56:22] know, collapse under their own inherent
[00:56:24] contradictions, but it may really suck
[00:56:26] in in the short run. But, um, before you
[00:56:30] go, I was hoping um, what would you like
[00:56:33] people watching this to do?
[00:56:35] >> I think the best thing that people can
[00:56:37] do right now is figure out how to
[00:56:40] organize locally, make sure that they're
[00:56:42] starting to understand what their rights
[00:56:44] are because I think there's a a wide
[00:56:47] swath of people who don't understand
[00:56:49] what their rights are. And for folks who
[00:56:51] want to learn what their rights are,
[00:56:52] they can visit our website. Uh they can
[00:56:54] go to nyic.orgkyr
[00:56:58] and just read the material there. You
[00:57:00] have rights that are enshrined in our US
[00:57:02] Constitution and you have civil
[00:57:04] liberties and we want to make sure that
[00:57:05] people understand what their rights are
[00:57:06] so that if they ever are being violated
[00:57:09] that they can step up and actually fight
[00:57:10] back in the right way. Um and then show
[00:57:13] up for each other. You know, this is a
[00:57:14] moment where community actually matters
[00:57:17] and showing up is important. People
[00:57:18] should take action with us. Join us. Uh
[00:57:21] they can text NYic to the number 52886.
[00:57:27] Um and we'll be sending out action
[00:57:28] alerts on that platform. But also demand
[00:57:31] accountability from every every level of
[00:57:33] government. Um what your local
[00:57:35] government's doing to to keep families
[00:57:37] together, what your state is doing, what
[00:57:39] your federal reps are doing. It's all
[00:57:41] critically important in this moment. and
[00:57:43] every act of descent because descent is
[00:57:45] the most patriotic thing you can do
[00:57:47] matters right now.
[00:57:49] >> Right. Well, thanks so much. I know you
[00:57:52] you're very busy and you got to go. Uh
[00:57:54] where do you have a personal account
[00:57:56] that people can follow you where you put
[00:57:58] out personal things or is it just
[00:57:59] nyic.org?
[00:58:00] >> Uh folks can follow us on, you know, all
[00:58:04] the socials. I think it's the NY t hy
[00:58:10] and then uh my handle is just hey it's
[00:58:13] Morad across platforms as well.
[00:58:15] >> Okay. Well, we will put those links in
[00:58:17] the description. Thanks so much for
[00:58:18] taking the time to come out here today
[00:58:20] and tell us about what the situation is
[00:58:21] in New York and
[00:58:22] >> thank you country in general.
[00:58:25] >> Yeah. Thanks very much.
[00:58:42] with
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