Superman’s new job at ICE is the perfect American plot twist

Last week, histrion Dean Cain, known for portraying Superman successful the 1990s TV amusement Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, announced that helium was going to beryllium sworn successful arsenic a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Cain said helium was joining the bureau due to the fact that ICE agents, whom helium described arsenic the “real existent heroes”, were being vilified. He besides posted an ICE recruitment video connected Instagram with the Superman taxable opus playing successful the background, and promoted the generous wage and benefits that travel with being an ICE agent.

Cain is not the lone one. Some pro-Trump celebrities person besides defended oregon praised ICE. And Dr Phil tagged on connected ICE raids successful Chicago and quizzed apprehended migrants connected camera.

But mounting speech the irony that the Man of Steel himself was successful information besides an undocumented alien, wherefore would Superman beryllium truthful keen to articulation ICE’s draconian raids targeting immigrants?

For 1 thing, we request to recognize the allure of these ICE operations.

The visuals of masked national agents, hopping retired of armoured vehicles, successful military-style cogwheel and swiftly descending connected what ICE enthusiasts would assertion are terrorists, rapists, paedophiles, murderers, cause traffickers and pack members, are profoundly comforting for galore successful the US.

This is simply a effect of a agelong past wherever militarised policing gained a semblance of sacrosanctity successful the country.

It is good documented that modern policing successful the US has its origins successful enslaved patrols. This means that the improvement of the US transgression justness strategy has its roots not lone successful slavery, but besides successful the content that enslaved revolts oregon immoderate effort to upend the radical hierarchy successful American nine are an existential menace to the established societal order.

Over the years, the gradual militarisation of the constabulary has drawn its rationale from periods of perceived existential crises successful American society. Whether it was the emergence of organised transgression during the Prohibition epoch of the 1920s, uprisings during the civilian rights question of the 1960s, oregon erstwhile President Richard Nixon declared cause addiction “public force nary 1” requiring an “all-out offensive”, these person served arsenic the pretext for strong, military-style policing connected American streets.

This militarisation of the constabulary has been supported by Section 1033 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997, which President Bill Clinton signed into law, allowing section instrumentality enforcement agencies to entree excess subject instrumentality from the Department of Defense (DOD). The 1033 programme has allowed the DOD to “sell oregon transfer”, among different things, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, grenade launchers, aeroplanes and helicopters.

This emotion matter with ICE is besides a taste phenomenon. The hard-edged, convulsive and brash cop, consenting to stray extracurricular the bounds of the instrumentality to support guiltless civilians from evil (the Muslim terrorist, the Soviets, the Germans) is simply a fashionable Hollywood and American TV amusement staple. This has normalised the cognition that to support America harmless from specified existential threats, it is sometimes indispensable to usage deadly unit oregon extrajudicial actions, nary substance however cruel oregon excessive they whitethorn seem.

Of course, successful each of this, we cannot disregard the deep, anti-immigrant sentiments that thrust the enactment for ICE.

In my big life, this xenophobia has taken galore forms.

As an 18-year-old assemblage pupil successful upstate New York successful the aboriginal 2000s, I was the carnal epitome of each things evil and anti-American arsenic the state waged its “Global War connected Terror”. At the time, I retrieve a chap pupil justifying the other information checks I had to endure done astatine airports, saying, “You cannot disregard the information that you look similar the radical who hatred us.”

In my precocious 20s arsenic a PhD pupil successful Copenhagen, I had to perceive a elder workfellow say, “You’re Indian. I conjecture your accomplishment is raping women.” He was referring to the 2012 Delhi autobus pack rape and execution that received planetary attention.

Globally, we person besides seen a proliferation of world TV shows similar Border Security: Australia’s Front Line and Nothing to Declare UK that assertion to amusement the world of the aggregate threats that Western countries brushwood astatine their borders.

It is present each but commonplace to ideate the fig of the migrant arsenic a vas for each things we fearfulness and hate.

When Syrian refugees arrived successful Europe successful 2015, they were portrayed arsenic a information threat, a load connected nationalist services, and a menace to European values.

Last year, the United Kingdom saw a question of far-right anti-immigrant riots aft a wide stabbing of girls successful Southport. The riots followed mendacious claims that the attacker was a Muslim migrant. Rioters attacked minority-owned businesses, the homes of immigrants and hotels lodging asylum seekers.

This year, Ireland has seen anti-immigrant attacks connected South Asians, including a six-year-old miss who was punched successful the look and deed successful the genital area. Reportedly, these attacks person been fuelled by choler implicit the affordability and lodging crisis.

Such anti-immigrant sentiments person been endemic to American politics.

While the sermon during the Obama years was not arsenic antagonistic, the removal of undocumented migrants was inactive a governmental priority. President Obama was called “deporter-in-chief”, and successful 2012, deportations peaked astatine 409,849. That said, successful the aforesaid year, helium besides signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, allowing undocumented migrants who were brought into the state arsenic minors to use for “renewable two-year periods of deferred enactment from deportation, allowing them to stay successful the country”. DACA besides made them eligible for enactment permits.

Deportations were besides a precedence during the Biden years. In fiscal twelvemonth 2023, US migration authorities deported oregon returned 468,000 migrants, surpassing immoderate azygous twelvemonth during Trump’s archetypal term.

That said, during Trump’s tenure successful the White House, the anti-immigrant rhetoric has been vicious, and the Republican person does not shy distant from portraying migrants arsenic synonymous with criminality and an existential menace to the demographic, motivation and taste cloth of the United States.

This framing of immigrants arsenic a problematic beingness successful American nine served arsenic a pretext for Trump’s program to physique a partition crossed the US-Mexico borderline to halt the question of undocumented migrants, the question prohibition connected citizens from respective Muslim countries, and a suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program.

Trump’s 2nd word has lone been a continuation of specified policies. With the genocide ongoing successful Gaza and the concurrent visibility of the Palestine solidarity movement, the anti-immigration question has merged with anti-Palestinian racism, with ICE besides targeting pro-Palestine activists whom the Trump medication claims clasp views that are antithetical to American values.

With each of this successful the background, it past makes consciousness that an histrion who erstwhile played an undocumented alien connected TV and who himself has Japanese practice would articulation ICE. In the epoch of Trump, targeting the bushed and mediocre huddled masses who yearn to respire escaped seems to beryllium the American way.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.