Antifa and many of the other groups now calling on political leaders to “defund the police” were also at the forefront of the “Abolish ICE” movement – insisting that the federal government abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In June of 2018, a Nebraska affiliate of the group doxxed roughly 1,600 ICE employees, making public their titles, photos, home addresses and information about their family members. And, in September 2018, Antifa agitator Ulrike Salazar called ICE agents “shadowy Gestapo agents” who “take away young boys and girls, tear apart families, throw away undesirables into dark and cramped dungeons.” Clearly, Antifa is an organization that hates borders and border enforcement.
Of course, that appears to be true only when borders aren’t serving the group’s radical political agenda. When borders delineate a zone in which Antifa has become the de facto governing authority, its thugs have no problem engaging in a rough justice form of border enforcement.
As The Gateway Pundit reports, Antifa has taken over six square blocks in the Capitol Hill district of Seattle, declaring it an “autonomous zone,” no longer subject to state and federal laws. And what’s the first thing the new Lords of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) did? They built a border wall out of Jersey barriers and called for armed volunteers to police it. Hypocrisy much?
What’s worse is that the supposed anti-fascists appear to be using fascist tactics in order to subdue the residents of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. In an opinion column, Australia’s Daily Telegraph has suggested that, in the absence of Seattle authorities, residents have been intimidated into cooperating with Antifa.
The situation in Seattle should conclusively demonstrate – even to the casual observer – that borders, border walls and border enforcement are prerequisites to implementing and maintaining a specific political order. Were the Seattle city government still in charge of the Capitol Hill district, Antifa simply wouldn’t be able to make a credible claim that new rules are in force. The only way to ensure that those rules remain the law of Antifa’s very tiny land is to keep out any other entity with the power to govern.
And that’s exactly why Antifa and its allies want to abolish ICE. It has absolutely nothing to do with concern for the “rights” of illegal aliens. Erasing the borders of the United States would mean that we no longer have a clearly delineated territory within which the American rule of law reigns supreme. And that, in turn, would create an opportunity for groups like Antifa to claim they’re free to impose a new political order.
Since most Americans don’t want to live under the boot heel of any extremist group, “Abolish ICE” isn’t just a catchy political slogan. It’s a dangerous idea with dire real-world consequences.
