Final Evacuation to Other Lands Was to Precede Final Solution-A Warning About DACA

Since millions of DACA-eligible immigrants living and working in the United States just narrowly dodged another bullet by not being stripped of their legal status and deported;(1) it might be a good time to recall that long before the Final Solution there was supposed to be a Final Evacuation of Jews and immigrants to other territories.

It might also be useful to know that years before the Final Solution the groundwork had been laid to freely demonize, and then “legally” dehumanize, Jews and migrants. This, especially in view of President Donald Trump’s tweet accusing immigrant communities-specifically Latinos-as crime infested and filled with over breeding.(2)

And as Central American migrants fleeing violence and lethal persecution arrive at the border despite warnings they won’t be able to cross and seek asylum;(3) it might also be important to know the Final Solution occurred because Germany’s highest court was no longer independent. It had instead succumbed to Nazi leadership and their racial ideology.

Urgency of The “Now” to Solve DACA-DREAMers
Though the U.S. is nowhere near implementing a Final Solution-like event, yet, the potential is always there. To be sure, a president who speaks ambiguously, figuratively, and literally just tried to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which protects young illegal immigrants who had no say-so in being born here.

He and his ruling party wanted to also stop DACA-eligible immigrants from filing new applications for citizenship. And despite calling the attempt to overturn the Obama-era program “arbitrary” and “capricious,” the District Judge granted the Department of Homeland Security 90 days to provide better legal arguments.

Germany’s Jews and migrants knew all about courts and how quickly things can change. They learned as well that people who fear aliens are overrunning and weakening their nation trumps justice. In fact, when Nazi leaders abandoned the plan to evacuate Jews and immigrants to other territories the Final Solution started right away. And justice died.

Twitter Racism Breeds Contagion
Neither should Americans ignore the racially charged and nativist attitudes leveled at immigrants these days. When the president tweeted that Sanctuary cities were crime infested and over bred, it was the same kind of language that had categorized Germany’s Jews and migrants on the basis of their different fertility rates.

It also made them seem not quite human and parasitic. Just as Germany’s Jews and migrants were accused of living off the state or generosity of others, the same has been said of DACA-eligible immigrants and DREAMers. This, despite that 97 percent of them either work or are enrolled in school.(4)

Breeding was moreover weaponized. Calling Mexican immigrants rapists, murderers, and drug dealers has not only instilled fear and criminalized certain cities, but it has left the idea that America’s national character is contaminated. Despite only 0.2 percent committing a crime, a collective punishment is also at work-as it was in Germany.

More Unconstitutional Powers
For now, the caravan of 600 men, women and children that arrived at the border city of Tijuana is hoping to seek asylum in the U.S. Most are fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras-countries that have experienced repeated U.S. military interventions and coups-and where they’ve described political persecution, drug violence, and systematic rape.

The president’s Travel Ban has finally arrived at the Supreme Court as well. Along with potentially usurping the powers of the Legislative Branch, no other president has sought so much control over the status of migrants and their countries. If approved, some warn it would establish a more dangerous precedent of unconstitutional overreach.

A University of Pennsylvania study meanwhile found that the president’s support from the “forgotten men and women” who elected him had less to do with “economic anxiety” and more about resentment and possible loss of status. In other words, the true threat and reason for their vote was the fear of losing national dominance-real or imagined.

Enemy Within Is Poor Thinking and Policies
The Final Solution occurred because the Weimar Republic’s democratic institutions and independent courts were changed by individuals who conjured up the idea of a powerful Jewish and migrant threat. Fearful of their own survival, it was only too easy for Germans and their institutions and courts to justify radical measures against Jews and migrants.

What’s more, the “alien enemy” within would be even more dangerous in time. Since the U.S. is in the midst of many ongoing wars, just how much would it take to implement mass deportations or internment camps? Would it be easy to use forced emigration to weaken surrounding neighbors-as Germany did-or scapegoat certain groups of people?

Though the Final Evacuation was to take precedence over the Final Solution, the zeitgeist of the times would not allow it. The same kind of thinking that created a problem tried to consequently solve it: war and conquest, corporatism and exploitation, environmental degradation and scarcity, bureaucratic vetting and polarization, and death.

Humanizing Those Who Fear
Considering DACA and DREAMers in view of the Final Evacuation that was to precede the Final Solution, one has to wonder when people who fear for their lives will be humanized? And will asking for protection or a better opportunity ever be legalized too?

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.

(1) www.washingtonpost.com. “Federal Judge: Trump Administration Must Accept New DACA Applications,” by Maria Sachetti. April 24, 2018.
(2) www.cnn.com. “DHS Secretary Declines to Explain Trump’s “Breeding” Tweet,” by Tal Kopan. April 19, 2018.
(3) www.desertsun.com. “Migrant Caravan Arrives at Mexicali Border, Even as Trump Warns Not to Seek Asylum,” by Rebecca Pleven. April 24, 2018.
(4) www.usatoday.com “Who Are The DACADREAMers And How Many Are Here?, by Amy Gomez. February 13, 2018.