Jack, I live in a small, rural, mountain town in Western North Carolina and to date, as far as I can tell, we have been largely untouched. We have, for the size of the town, a fairly large Mexican community. We have a lot of Mexican restaurants, some of which we frequent. Family owned and operated. These are good, hard working people who support themselves and their families and provide good food at a reasonable price and cause no trouble. I worry about them. ICE hasn’t got here yet. They meet their quotas faster in large cities such as Charlotte and others. That will change in time if we can’t stop them.
Also, I do not trust our local law enforcement. While NC is purple and leaning blue from my observation, rural communities remain largely red. That’s the case here for now. As you get closer to Asheville, where my son lives, that changes. Our state legislative is a big problem. We finally broke their supermajority in 2024 after a long, drawn out battle. It helps but it’s not enough.
Thank you for drawing attention to both sides of what is happening in our country.
I’m concerned about the upcoming elections with respect to possible ICE presence and other voter suppression tactics. NC is heavily gerrymandered, as I’m sure you’re aware.
Susan, thank you for this. It’s grounded...specific...and exactly the kind of attention that matters.
That “untouched so far” feeling in rural places is real...and you’re right to see the pattern underneath it. Enforcement often starts where it’s easiest...fastest...and least visible.
That isn’t mercy; it’s sequencing. And...when pressure does arrive in towns like yours...it usually shows up as disruption to the ordinary: people stop coming to work...restaurants go quiet...families disappear from routine spaces. Fear spreads without needing a spectacle.
Your mistrust of local law enforcement is also...unfortunately...well-calibrated. Federal pressure often works through local discretion...especially in red rural areas where guardrails can be thinner. You’re reading the terrain accurately.
And...on elections...you’re right to be concerned. Suppression rarely arrives as one dramatic act. It shows up as friction...intimidation...uncertainty...and selective enforcement.
Even the RUMOR of ICE presence can change behavior without changing a single rule. Not paranoia...preparation.
What I appreciate most is that you’re holding both truths at once: care for your neighbors AND clear-eyed realism about the system. That’s what “hold fast” actually means.
Thank you Jack. The internet attention span is dreadfully short. I heard Cornell West talk on CNN about how this has been happening to Black people for 250 years. We as a people should be used to this with the way covid was not fought and a million people died. It has been ten years. We are threatened to continue to exist as a country. Thank you for always presenting the way to look at things through a psychological lens.
Mary Sadler, thank you for this. You’re naming something very real...and...very hard to sit with.
You’re right about the attention span. One of the oldest advantages of power is knowing that the public memory is short...while the pressure it applies...is long.
That imbalance isn’t new. As you point out...Black Americans have lived with it for CENTURIES...long before it had names like “administrative process” or “bureaucratic discretion.” What changes is the packaging, not the underlying dynamic.
You’re also right that COVID...should have shattered the illusion. A million dead wasn’t a wake-up call because systems that normalize loss...don’t EXPERIENCE it as loss. They experience it as throughput. That’s a brutal thing to realize...but...it’s clarifying.
The reason I try to frame these moments psychologically...isn’t to intellectualize them away...it’s the opposite.
It’s to help people stay ORIENTED instead of becoming numb...panicked...or resigned.
When threats feel endless...the nervous system wants to either collapse or dissociate. Orientation is how you resist BOTH.
And...I want to say this clearly: seeing the pattern doesn’t mean you’re “used to it” in a moral sense. It means you’re not being fooled....by novelty. There’s a difference between endurance...and consent.
I appreciate you being here...paying attention...and reflecting it back. That’s not nothing...especially right now.
I want to expand on your comment that prolonged exposure to this type of stress leads to exhaustion or disassociation. I think a majority are disassociating. I think that is the problem
not apathy. People cannot wrap their minds around what is happening. Let alone how to fight it.
If you come upon a less public abduction, where there's no crowd, or media near, get your phone out and DOCUMENT. It could be offered as evidence, eventually. See if you can record faces, eyes, voices, vehicles and license plates. Right now its EVER BODY'S job to do whatever you can.
Jack, I have learned that knowing something and KNOWING something are two different mindsets. It's like listening vs. hearing, or looking vs. seeing. Of course I knew those two truths about ICE. But in the aftermath of the horrors in Minneapolis, I just got on with my outrage and pigeon holed that which screamed at me in the headlines and the break-down-the-door and spirit people away. It's not that I cared less. But, hell, I live between two tiny towns and the closest I have gotten to ICE awareness in the last six months was last summer, when a couple of kids who barely spoke English repaired my roof. Followed closely by another couple of kids (different company) who put up new gutters. Each time I voiced my concern to their bosses and ordered them to keep their employees safe. I tend to have a big mouth. Then came Minneapolis. I freely admit that took up a lot of my rage and sweat and tears. Does this make any sense? If not, I'll delete it.
I am so grateful to you for posting this. And yes, I'll re-stack, share, and do whatever else I can do to get this circulated. THANK YOU!!!
I was actually at the Portland protest where they quickly hit us with flash bangs, pepper spray, tear gas and possibly rubber bullets. I am thankful for the people who quickly donned facemasks and ran into the melee to help others when most of us had to retreat. I also know that there are the other less seen kidnappings taking place in cities near Portland as well as here - that I have not seen. I fear that because we haven't had (yet) the mass attack as Minneapolis did that we are not fully seeing what else is going on under our noses. There are definitely people tracking ICE cars and agents' movements. I believe Portland, Oregon is up to the threat although there are issues such as City Government and the Leasing Authority (which oversees the ICE lease here) are pointing fingers at one another and keeping protesters from getting real answers. I'm going to be putting a lot more of my attention and focus to local issues related to ICE and beyond. Minneapolis gives a good example of how important it is to prepare down to block-by-block. Thanks for your work Jack!
Communities all over America need neighborhood patrols to document and record this breach of Constitutional rights. America’s Most Beautiful city & county is besieged by these cretans Residents are standing up and holding fast as they document the abuses for all of history. Visitors hold vigil and sing songs for those imprisoned at the Otay Mesa detention facility.
Yes, peaceful protests are being met with pepper balls, tear gas, & pepper spray.. 7 yr old girl had to have medical attention
Woman, who was a US citizen, driving somewhere between Corvallis & Salem (can't remember the area- but not 1 of the bigger cities), was boxed in by ICE, smashed window, dragged out of car, forced into their vehicle. When they discovered her passport in her pocket (guess is she looks like a person they would target because she had her passport in her pocket) and then they dumped her.
Torn rotator cuff, other injuries, & concussion- it is my understanding that she now has an attorney.
Unbelievable...that in the US, people are having to carry proof of citizenship.
Thanks Jack for your service to all of us, & for our Democracy,
We also live in a rural area in a red state. No obvious signs yet, but there is a substantial meat processor in the area so I imagine at some point ...
Not too long ago I witnessed a person entering a public library wearing a black baseball cap emblazoned with gold letters, ICE. After politely speaking to the librarians, who really didn’t notice, I took the opportunity to engage outside the library in an offhand way. We conversed (and I disclose I asked about the hat, political leanings, of course the person was a rabid GOP retorting, ‘because we don’t want them here’). The person and I high-fived, not because I agreed but because I kept my cool. I have run into that person a few times thereafter. Have not seen the hat. No big deal as we are not friends however, in a small community it’s a good to know which side is which these days. Steady as go. Thank you Jack.
He ere in Vero Beach FL,a deep red, small city, ther is no ice presence.
I assume it's because tRump doesn't want to disrupt red districts economy. He's protecting his voters.
tRump is aggressively disrupting the economy and lives of blue districts with ICEstopo's anti constitutional, unlawful tactics. I believe this is for dual purposes.
1. To gin up deportation numbers & distract from his Epstein involvement.
2. The mission critical mission is to intimidate voters in blue districts. We'll se ICEstopo unlawfully patrolling polling places come November.
Hopefully our local police will keep ICEstopo away from the polls.
Jack, I live in a small, rural, mountain town in Western North Carolina and to date, as far as I can tell, we have been largely untouched. We have, for the size of the town, a fairly large Mexican community. We have a lot of Mexican restaurants, some of which we frequent. Family owned and operated. These are good, hard working people who support themselves and their families and provide good food at a reasonable price and cause no trouble. I worry about them. ICE hasn’t got here yet. They meet their quotas faster in large cities such as Charlotte and others. That will change in time if we can’t stop them.
Also, I do not trust our local law enforcement. While NC is purple and leaning blue from my observation, rural communities remain largely red. That’s the case here for now. As you get closer to Asheville, where my son lives, that changes. Our state legislative is a big problem. We finally broke their supermajority in 2024 after a long, drawn out battle. It helps but it’s not enough.
Thank you for drawing attention to both sides of what is happening in our country.
I’m concerned about the upcoming elections with respect to possible ICE presence and other voter suppression tactics. NC is heavily gerrymandered, as I’m sure you’re aware.
#HOLDFAST
~Susan
Susan, thank you for this. It’s grounded...specific...and exactly the kind of attention that matters.
That “untouched so far” feeling in rural places is real...and you’re right to see the pattern underneath it. Enforcement often starts where it’s easiest...fastest...and least visible.
That isn’t mercy; it’s sequencing. And...when pressure does arrive in towns like yours...it usually shows up as disruption to the ordinary: people stop coming to work...restaurants go quiet...families disappear from routine spaces. Fear spreads without needing a spectacle.
Your mistrust of local law enforcement is also...unfortunately...well-calibrated. Federal pressure often works through local discretion...especially in red rural areas where guardrails can be thinner. You’re reading the terrain accurately.
And...on elections...you’re right to be concerned. Suppression rarely arrives as one dramatic act. It shows up as friction...intimidation...uncertainty...and selective enforcement.
Even the RUMOR of ICE presence can change behavior without changing a single rule. Not paranoia...preparation.
What I appreciate most is that you’re holding both truths at once: care for your neighbors AND clear-eyed realism about the system. That’s what “hold fast” actually means.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
Thank you Jack. The internet attention span is dreadfully short. I heard Cornell West talk on CNN about how this has been happening to Black people for 250 years. We as a people should be used to this with the way covid was not fought and a million people died. It has been ten years. We are threatened to continue to exist as a country. Thank you for always presenting the way to look at things through a psychological lens.
Mary Sadler, thank you for this. You’re naming something very real...and...very hard to sit with.
You’re right about the attention span. One of the oldest advantages of power is knowing that the public memory is short...while the pressure it applies...is long.
That imbalance isn’t new. As you point out...Black Americans have lived with it for CENTURIES...long before it had names like “administrative process” or “bureaucratic discretion.” What changes is the packaging, not the underlying dynamic.
You’re also right that COVID...should have shattered the illusion. A million dead wasn’t a wake-up call because systems that normalize loss...don’t EXPERIENCE it as loss. They experience it as throughput. That’s a brutal thing to realize...but...it’s clarifying.
The reason I try to frame these moments psychologically...isn’t to intellectualize them away...it’s the opposite.
It’s to help people stay ORIENTED instead of becoming numb...panicked...or resigned.
When threats feel endless...the nervous system wants to either collapse or dissociate. Orientation is how you resist BOTH.
And...I want to say this clearly: seeing the pattern doesn’t mean you’re “used to it” in a moral sense. It means you’re not being fooled....by novelty. There’s a difference between endurance...and consent.
I appreciate you being here...paying attention...and reflecting it back. That’s not nothing...especially right now.
-Jack
I want to expand on your comment that prolonged exposure to this type of stress leads to exhaustion or disassociation. I think a majority are disassociating. I think that is the problem
not apathy. People cannot wrap their minds around what is happening. Let alone how to fight it.
If you come upon a less public abduction, where there's no crowd, or media near, get your phone out and DOCUMENT. It could be offered as evidence, eventually. See if you can record faces, eyes, voices, vehicles and license plates. Right now its EVER BODY'S job to do whatever you can.
Jack, I have learned that knowing something and KNOWING something are two different mindsets. It's like listening vs. hearing, or looking vs. seeing. Of course I knew those two truths about ICE. But in the aftermath of the horrors in Minneapolis, I just got on with my outrage and pigeon holed that which screamed at me in the headlines and the break-down-the-door and spirit people away. It's not that I cared less. But, hell, I live between two tiny towns and the closest I have gotten to ICE awareness in the last six months was last summer, when a couple of kids who barely spoke English repaired my roof. Followed closely by another couple of kids (different company) who put up new gutters. Each time I voiced my concern to their bosses and ordered them to keep their employees safe. I tend to have a big mouth. Then came Minneapolis. I freely admit that took up a lot of my rage and sweat and tears. Does this make any sense? If not, I'll delete it.
I am so grateful to you for posting this. And yes, I'll re-stack, share, and do whatever else I can do to get this circulated. THANK YOU!!!
I was actually at the Portland protest where they quickly hit us with flash bangs, pepper spray, tear gas and possibly rubber bullets. I am thankful for the people who quickly donned facemasks and ran into the melee to help others when most of us had to retreat. I also know that there are the other less seen kidnappings taking place in cities near Portland as well as here - that I have not seen. I fear that because we haven't had (yet) the mass attack as Minneapolis did that we are not fully seeing what else is going on under our noses. There are definitely people tracking ICE cars and agents' movements. I believe Portland, Oregon is up to the threat although there are issues such as City Government and the Leasing Authority (which oversees the ICE lease here) are pointing fingers at one another and keeping protesters from getting real answers. I'm going to be putting a lot more of my attention and focus to local issues related to ICE and beyond. Minneapolis gives a good example of how important it is to prepare down to block-by-block. Thanks for your work Jack!
Communities all over America need neighborhood patrols to document and record this breach of Constitutional rights. America’s Most Beautiful city & county is besieged by these cretans Residents are standing up and holding fast as they document the abuses for all of history. Visitors hold vigil and sing songs for those imprisoned at the Otay Mesa detention facility.
#holdfast
Oregon Subscriber here,
Yes, peaceful protests are being met with pepper balls, tear gas, & pepper spray.. 7 yr old girl had to have medical attention
Woman, who was a US citizen, driving somewhere between Corvallis & Salem (can't remember the area- but not 1 of the bigger cities), was boxed in by ICE, smashed window, dragged out of car, forced into their vehicle. When they discovered her passport in her pocket (guess is she looks like a person they would target because she had her passport in her pocket) and then they dumped her.
Torn rotator cuff, other injuries, & concussion- it is my understanding that she now has an attorney.
Unbelievable...that in the US, people are having to carry proof of citizenship.
Thanks Jack for your service to all of us, & for our Democracy,
Subscriber in Oregon
Faithful American
We have both types in MN ... aggression in the face of resistance as well as smash-and-grab kidnappings.
We also live in a rural area in a red state. No obvious signs yet, but there is a substantial meat processor in the area so I imagine at some point ...
ICE has been reported in my area. I know of no substantiated interactions, but we are watching and in frequent communication.
Not too long ago I witnessed a person entering a public library wearing a black baseball cap emblazoned with gold letters, ICE. After politely speaking to the librarians, who really didn’t notice, I took the opportunity to engage outside the library in an offhand way. We conversed (and I disclose I asked about the hat, political leanings, of course the person was a rabid GOP retorting, ‘because we don’t want them here’). The person and I high-fived, not because I agreed but because I kept my cool. I have run into that person a few times thereafter. Have not seen the hat. No big deal as we are not friends however, in a small community it’s a good to know which side is which these days. Steady as go. Thank you Jack.
Morning Jack, I appreciate your insights.
He ere in Vero Beach FL,a deep red, small city, ther is no ice presence.
I assume it's because tRump doesn't want to disrupt red districts economy. He's protecting his voters.
tRump is aggressively disrupting the economy and lives of blue districts with ICEstopo's anti constitutional, unlawful tactics. I believe this is for dual purposes.
1. To gin up deportation numbers & distract from his Epstein involvement.
2. The mission critical mission is to intimidate voters in blue districts. We'll se ICEstopo unlawfully patrolling polling places come November.
Hopefully our local police will keep ICEstopo away from the polls.
Thank you for your insights