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As the political power of Donald Trump diminishes and his behavior grows increasingly volatile, there has been an escalation in hostile rhetoric aimed at female journalists and ethnic communities, with Somali Americans as a recent focal point. These disparaging remarks gain traction stems from the animosity behind them and his position, not their factual accuracy. Similarly, his administration's offensive against immigrants are poorly executed and driven by misinformation. It is abundantly clear that the goal extends beyond targeting individuals with criminal histories. The true target is anyone with brown skin.

From Native Americans carrying tribal IDs to naturalized US citizens, from essential workers in construction and healthcare to military veterans, college students, people in their own homes, and very young children: a wide array of the country's population is under siege.

"ICE operations are brutal, inhumane and do nothing for community security," asserts a leading political figure from New York. Scenes featuring masked agents shattering windows and dragging parents away from infants, terrorizing entire communities and hindering the function of institutions, achieves the opposite effect.

These waves of calculated hatred—focusing on Haitians during the election, Venezuelans this year, and most recently Somali Americans—rely extensively on defamatory falsehoods and insults. This is because: the actual facts about these groups of people cannot support such hostility.

The Imaginary White Nation and Historical Reality

This campaign of terror and demonization purports to aim at rebuilding a uniformly white United States that is a fantasy. Although America had a larger white population in the mid-20th century, it was never exclusively a "white country". At the nation's founding, the thirteen founding colonies contained a substantial percentage of African and Native American individuals—some southern states were over one-third Black.

When the United States expanded, taking Texas in the 1840s and seizing Mexico's northern territories in 1848, it incorporated a large Spanish-speaking population long established in the modern Southwest and California. Historical records show the first African Muslim in this land came as part of a Spanish expedition almost one hundred years before the Mayflower English Puritans landed in Massachusetts in 1620.

Population Truths Versus Coercive Fantasies

The systematic targeting of huge populations of brown-skinned individuals and even mass deportations will not manufacture the ethnically pure country of extremist imagination. Los Angeles, for instance, is nearly half Latino, and regardless of aggressive enforcement, detentions and removals, it remains so. Its name itself is Spanish, an ongoing testament of its original inhabitants.

All this hatred and oppression looks like the fear of racists who pretend they can halt the demographic future of a country that is ceasing to be predominantly white by using pure cruelty.

This is paired with an attack on abortion access that is, at times, explicitly designed to encourage white women to bear more babies. The argument points to a fertility rate below replacement level in the US, a trend less severe than in some other nations because of a hard-working population of immigrant laborers which keeps the economy functioning. Yet, instead of offering the social support that could ease the burdens of parenthood, the approach is based on punishment and force.

A prominent journalist notes that the reproductive politics of certain political figures—coupled with derogatory comments aimed at women without children—constitute a form of pronatalism. This philosophy "typically merges concerns over falling fertility with anti-immigration and anti-women's rights viewpoints."

Similarly, reporting indicates that "attempts to raise the birth rate cannot make up for broader policies designed to cut government assistance initiatives like healthcare for the poor and insurance for kids. The so-called 'pro-family' focus is not just for encouraging procreation. Instead, it is being weaponized to push a right-wing political program that endangers the health of women, reproductive rights, and labor force involvement."

Contradictory Strategies and Widespread Resistance

The combination of anti-immigration and pronatalist policies represent an attempt to artificially redirect the nation's demographic trajectory. Ultimately, both amount to foolish bullying by individuals filled with hatred who inadvertently reveal that their assertions of being better must be rooted in race and gender; without these constructs, their positions devolve into incoherent nonsense.

Much of the justification put forward by the administration does not match up with tangible facts and actual outcomes. As an instance, naval operations in the Caribbean Sea frequently focus on tiny boats not confirmed to be transporting drugs and incapable of reaching US shores. Similarly, Venezuela's involvement in fentanyl trafficking is negligible, and its role in cocaine trafficking is far less than that of neighboring countries on the continent.

The administration's stance extends to climate issues, with a rejection of "climate change ideology" and "carbon neutrality targets." There is a sentimental attachment to fossil fuels, especially coal mining, leading to policies that compel localities to spend money on outdated and polluting energy sources while sabotaging affordable, clean alternatives. Concurrently, health officials have promoted anti-scientific dietary schemes while eroding broader health protections.

The foundational assumption of the anti-immigrant offensive is that people of color born abroad are threatening outsiders. Yet, from coast to coast—in cities like L.A. and Charlotte, Chicago to Portland—the government's own forces, immigration enforcement personnel, whom many residents view as the dangerous and hostile interlopers.

There is no clearer sign of the widespread rejection of this approach than the countless individuals organizing, protesting, facing danger and detention to protect their communities. City after city has risen up in defense of its residents. All the insults and threats can alter this fundamental truth.