Much has been made of some similarities between the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and Pres. Trump's recent executive order on deportation. The parallels are inexact, of course, and many of the comparisons have been overdrawn. One clear constant between the two, however, has been the fear created in the target communities, even among those who are not technically subject to arrest. Here is how I described the reaction of free blacks to the Fugitive Slave Act (taken from a book review I just published in the American Historical Review):
When President Millard Fillmore signed the enhanced Fugitive Slave Act on September 18, 1850, it sent shock waves through the African American communities in the North. The law provided dramatic new powers to slave hunters, who would now be able to seize purported runaways almost at will. Armed with a slaveholder’s power of attorney and a general description of the human “property,” a slave hunter could now drag almost any African American before a federal commissioner, who was empowered to issue an “order of removal” after an abbreviated and summary hearing. The proceedings under the act, such as they were, did not allow juries, appeals, or intervention by the regular courts via habeas corpus. An alleged fugitive was not permitted to testify on his or her own behalf, and commissioners were paid ten dollars for issuing an order of removal in favor of the slave owner, but only five dollars when the ruling went in favor of the alleged slave.
Many African Americans in the North—both legally free and fugitive—responded by fleeing to Canada. One newspaper reported that 40 percent of Boston’s African American residents departed within days of Fillmore’s signature, and it was said that membership fell precipitously at black church congregations in New England, Pennsylvania, and New York. A leading hotel in Pittsburgh announced that it was closing its dining room because so many of its black waiters had left for Canada. Other African Americans armed themselves for self-defense, threatening, as Frederick Douglass put it, to “make a half dozen or more dead kidnappers” (Frederick Douglass’ Paper [North Star], August 20, 1852).
For most African Americans, however, both flight and armed resistance were impractical, leaving them little choice but to remain in place and hope for the best. Such was the case for the Parker sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, who had been born free in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Both girls worked as domestics for white families in the area, which was only a few miles from the Maryland border, and both were kidnapped by a notorious slave hunter named Thomas McCreary: Elizabeth, who was only about eleven or twelve, was seized in mid-December, 1851, and her sister Rachel, then seventeen, was taken some weeks later.
For an excellent and more detailed account of the Fugitive Slave Act in relation to the deportation EO, see "A Brief History of Sanctuary Cities," by my friend Rob Baker.
What's the problem here? One of those 94 million AMERICANS out of the labor force can take these jobs. Seriously, however, I am not entirely sure how my grandparents arrived in the US during the early 20th Century. I think they were tourists and stayed. That would make me undocumented. If pressed for "papers" or evidence, I would be subject to deportation. I asked other attorneys if they know how their grandparents got here and if they could prove it. Most shrugged their shoulders too…. I "dunno" and "who knows" was the most frequent response.
Let's compare those who wish to enforce a border to those who advocated OWNING SLAVES! And, let's compare those persons who voluntarily violated the immigration law to SLAVES! Really, Steve, in your quest for attention, does ANYTHING GO?
But, yes. Let's point out how those who benefit from illegal immigration exploit the labor of those enticed to come and those who depend upon their votes.
Republicans?
Or, is the greedy ones of both parties, with their wealth and luxury, who preach about justice, but don't want to lose their housekeepers and gardeners and car washers and bus boys and all sorts of servants, imported from impoverished countries and paid sub standard wages, whom they mindlessly exploit to clean their toilets? WHen I hear Party members pontificating, I want to know the extent that they engage, in their everyday lives, in this exploitation.
And, which Party counts on these immigrants to change the voting patters in America "forever"? Which Party is pandering to them, inciting them to hate and stirring their emotions, in a most demagogic manner, to solidify Party identification?
One need look no further than the post above.
Shameful!
anon,
What was shameful is Trump's speech last night. It was the best hate speech ever.
Trump created a "problem" or issue out of whole cloth where none existed. It was done to stir up emotions and to politicize a humanitarian issue. It is easy to stoke hate and anger. Trump needed an issue to deflect from the tremendous accomplishments of HRC and the Democrats on the economy, energy, health care, peace, the environment, and science.. Bush did the same thing with Kerry….they took his strongest issue and Swift Boated him as unpatriotic….
anon,
Genuinely curious, is there a 'line' or limit to your support for the trump administration?
If he expands ICE to the point that they are roving immigrant neighborhoods and 'black-bagging' people, will that cross the line?
What if he uses the immediate aftermath of the inevitable terrorist attack to develop a Muslim registry?
Just wondering if there is a line.
You keep boliviating about the Party.
Have you examined your principals lately?
Wow, Steve. You leave the attack and delete the reply? Really?
That's a concession, per se.
Let me offer an olive branch of sorts.
I agree with you, anon, that a country must have border integrity.
To the extent border control is demonized as 'fascist,' and reasonable people are driven out of the border control discussions, we're likely to end up with hard-line quasi-fascist border control, as the only people willing to be called 'fascist' are actually fascists.
All that said, these are humans. ten fingers. ten toes. like you and I (well, except for that ban-saw incident). We're not in a 'one more person comes in and the lifeboat sinks' situation. The policy and public discussion from the trump administration lacks all nuance and thoughtfulness. It's the antithesis of wisdom and the negative of compassion.