Border Patrol Finds Color, Misses Literal Borders
When a Black man, a U.S. citizen, is pulled over hundreds of miles from any border by federal agents who claim to be 'checking immigration status,' the story isn't just about individual racism. It's about a sprawling surveillance apparatus, a post-9/11 expansion that turns internal security into an excuse for racialized harassment. While the DHS budget soars (hitting over $100 billion in 2023),
ostensibly for 'border security,' we find agents deep within American cities, not apprehending cross-border drug smugglers, but questioning citizens on their 'color.' One might wonder if these agents are equally zealous in pursuing the actual architects of border instability—perhaps those benefiting from offshore tax havens, or corporations dependent on undocumented labor. Or is it just easier,
and politically safer, to harass a Somali-American U.S. citizen for looking suspicious to an agency more focused on performative 'security' than verifiable threats?