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Where is anger over ICE raids, propaganda?

Reactions from state's Democrats is anemic

By: Charles Stile
Political Stile
USA Today Network

..... The icon Uncle Sam "I want You" recruitment posters used in both world Wars were American symbols of patriotic pride and unity.
..... Now the Trump administration has dusted off and hijacked Uncle Sam to recruit officers to U.S. Immigration and customs Enforcement - an agency that's become a symbol of national division.
..... Uncle Sam was cerated to bolster public support for a common enemy abroad. ICE is suing him to enlist people - with signing bonuses, promises of debt relief and pension and health benefits - to turn on a purported "enemy within."
..... "Rep rot all foreign invaders, read one poster with Uncle Sam that includes a hot-line for ICE snitches.
..... President Donald Trump insisted during and after his campaign that his "enemy within" were unauthorized immigrants with criminal records and members of dangerous trans-national gangs. but the ICE squad are rounding up as many undocumented immigrants as possible, including those with some measure of legal status.
..... An analysis by The Washington Post found that half of those removed from the country since January 20 [2025] do not have a criminal conviction. It also revealed that as arrests increaser, the share of detained migrants with a criminal conviction has been dropping.
..... As the results from the first six months of ICE raids pour in, the "enemy within" aren't simply unauthorized immigrants with criminal records or members of dangerous trans-national gangs. the majority of people being swept up by ICE's masked and rifle-toting agents are mostly undocumented immigrants with no criminal convictions or backgrounds.
..... These are people working in restaurant kitchens, meat packing plants, construction sites, Jersey shore hotels, boardwalk concessions, landscaping crews, working in the heat, minding their won business, raising immigrant families - like our forefathers - and paying taxes.
..... They are our New Jersey neighbors whose families are being ripped apart by new and beefed-up ICE squads.

ICE recruitment posters have a creepy side

..... The ICE hijacking of Uncle Sam also has a creepy side.

..... The U.S. Homeland Security officials X account recently posted a picture of a head scratching Uncle Sam standing at a bucolic crossroads with direction sings on a post labeled "opportunity," "homeland," "opportunity," "services," and "cultural decline." Uncle Same is also holding a "Law and order" sign.
..... Above the post reads, "Which way, American Man?"
..... Critics have pointed out that the phrase is a reference to "Which Way, Western Man?," a racist and antisemitic tract written by William Gayley Simpson in 1978 but remains popular with neo-Nazis and white nationalists.
..... Homeland Security officials disputed any connection to the Gayley Simon's book, but it's worth remembering that Trump has sent singles of solidarity to the fringe right. He did so during the 2017 march on Charlotesville, Virginia, where protesters chanted "Jews will not replace us" and, during a 2020 president la debate. Trump gave a nod to the Proud Boys an alt-right, white nationalist group. the fringe, far-right has been a reliable part of MAGA movement from the state of the president;s climb to power.

Where is the outrage about ICE in New Jersey?

..... The recruitment ramp up - and the escalating raids in New Jersey - also raise the question: Where is the outcry in New Heresy?
..... Certainly, immigrant rights advocates and social justice groups are on the front lines, defending those targeted for deportation in and out of court rooms. and several African Americans and Latino leaders, such as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was outside the flimsy trespassing charges outside the Delaney Hall detention center, only to have them dropped 10 days later; and U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman and U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver have railed in opposition, fueled in part by their constituents' opposition but also recognizing a reminder of the state-sponsored violence during the Civil Rights movement.
..... But for most part, the Democratic establishment has remained largely feeble or muted amid the ICE escalation. Governor Phil Murphy refuses to get into a fight with president after trump laid the blame for the fatal car crash involving a undocumented Ocean County man last month [07/2025] on Murphy's sanctuary state policies.
..... The second most powerful New Jersey Democrat, state Senate President Nicholas Scutari, is certainly not rushing to the ramparts anytime soon. Scutair reportedly dined with Alina Habba, Trump's embattled choose as United States Attorney for New Jersey, along with Kevin O'Toole, the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
..... U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor, has largely led a word-salad campaign focused affordability and painting her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, as a Trump lackey. but she has largely reacted to ICE-related events, condemnation "warrant-less" raid in Newark in January [2025] and opposing the use of Joint McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base in south Jersey as a detention center for deportees.
,,,,, How about the members of the Republican Party, the so-called Family Values party from a not-so-distant past? they're hiding behind Trump's coattails. Ciattarelli has embraced Trump with gusto, and vows to end sanctuary state polices on his first day in office. He's also vowed to take the "handcuffs off" local police and let them cooperate with ICE, although he hasn't said whether he supports rounding up all undocumented migrants - or just those with criminal records.
..... Business leaders are too afraid to publicly condemn the raids that are threatening to wrest immigrants from their workplace. The fear of trump retaliation is pervasive.
..... The leaders of our state are hoping that this is all performance, that it will blow over and Trump will come to his senses once he realizes how deeply unpopular these raids are and the damage it could do the the businesses of his Republican supporters.
..... But the ramped up recruitment drive, financed by $100 million infusion of cash from the One Big Beautiful Bill, suggests the opposite, a full, obsessive commitment to deport possibly millions. and our state leadership is standing on the sidelines as this moral travesty continues right in our faces.

..... Charlie Stile is a veteran New Jersey political columnist. for unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jersey political powers structure and his powerful watchdog work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

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