Ah, November 16, 1940. Picture it: Nazis in their finest boots and stupid little hats, sealing off the Warsaw Ghetto. A cozy 1.3 square miles, 380,000 people crammed in, and no way out. The idea, apparently, was to create the ultimate dystopian hellhole. Mission accomplished, lads! In the months that followed, residents starved, disease ran riot, and the whole miserable setup ended in extermination camps. Some might say it was one of the darkest chapters in modern history. And yet—brace yourselves—somehow, this brilliant idea of locking away “undesirables” seems to have stuck around.
Because here we are, today, watching history itchily repeat itself, only with far more spray tan and cable news punditry. Enter the Trump administration, or as I like to call it, “Operation America, But Meaner.” Yes, the incoming administration has practically penciled in mass deportations in their agenda, promising the biggest “show ’em the door” movement the country has ever seen. Their plan? Expel millions of undocumented immigrants. You know, because nothing says “land of the free” quite like shoving people out en masse. They’ve even brought in their heavy hitters to make this dream a reality.
First up, Mr. Tom Homan—the self-proclaimed “border czar.” Homan’s like the gruff character from an old Western who shows up to kick people out of town but with the charming twist of not realizing it’s 2024. He wants to go full-on deport-a-thon, ripping families apart—no wait, scratch that—he’s so “compassionate” he’d rather deport them together! Problem solved, right? Then, there’s Kristi Noem as the Secretary of Homeland Security, because who doesn’t love a bit of ultra-conservative spice sprinkled into their immigration policies? Together, they make quite the dynamic duo, ready to save America by…well, clearing it out, apparently.
And let’s not forget the ripple effects! Deporting millions of people who do essential jobs isn’t exactly great for the economy. Just imagine the grocery prices when there’s nobody left to pick the crops, not to mention what the private prison industry is about to rake in from this fine mess. It’s the gift that keeps on giving—to the most questionable corporations imaginable.
Sound familiar? It should. The Warsaw Ghetto was sealed off with a similar mindset: isolate, control, remove. It was monstrous then, and it’s still monstrous now. Yet here we are, winking at history’s mistakes, acting like these policies don’t come with brutal human costs.
So today, let’s give thanks that, unlike some leaders, we don’t have to repeat history’s cruelest tricks. Let’s show we’ve learned a bit—preferably without deporting half the labor force, thank you very much. After all, once you’ve seen where forced removal and segregation lead, maybe, just maybe, you don’t sign up for the rerun.
