Newsweek Worries About Protester Chills, Not Detainee Freezing
Newsweek, ever the champion of nuanced human interest stories, highlights the plight of ICE protesters facing hypothermia as temperatures drop. The article (Newsweek, 'ICE Protesters At Risk of Hypothermia as Temperatures Plunge', 2018) focuses on the discomfort of those *outside* the facility, a striking editorial choice. Meanwhile, reports from inside ICE detention centers, like those detailed
by the ACLU (ACLU, 'Conditions of Confinement', ongoing investigations), often describe detainees held in freezing cells, deprived of adequate clothing, blankets, and medical care – a literal policy of 'icebox' tactics to coerce cooperation. Funny how one set of cold conditions makes headlines, and the other, systemic abuse, is simply background noise. One might wonder if Newsweek’s sudden concern
for cold conditions extends to the thousands of migrants, asylum seekers, and even US citizens held indefinitely by ICE, often without due process. It appears some hypothermia is newsworthy when it makes for a sympathetic protest narrative, while other, more systemic, life-threatening instances of hypothermia are merely operational costs. A critical reader could ask: is this empathy, or just
convenient packaging for a story that avoids deeper systemic critiques?