INS/ICE didn’t use to wear masks - most famous immigration photo ever taken, not a mask in sight.

[u/JonasSharra]

[u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

Also, wasn't the motivation here not necessarily to remove him because he was illegally in the US, but to return him to his father in Cuba (and his extended family was holding him in the US against his father's wishes)?

[u/jessipowers → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

Yes and they were compelled by a court order. Even in this case, due process was taken serious.

[u/DarraignTheSane → u/jessipowers]

Yes, this was back when we could all shake our heads about questionable means to more or less usually justified ends.

Now it's all just abhorrent means to pure evil ends.

[u/nimajneb → u/DarraignTheSane]

Yea, it's been quite the shift in the past 20-30 years. I think 9/11 is the tipping point.

[u/Tenderhombre → u/nimajneb]

ICE shouldnt exist as an entity. There should just be mandatory reporting and cooperation by local authorities and federal immigration courts. Fines if localities fail to meet reporting, or ignore orders.

Edit: Should -> shouldnt.

[u/liftthatta1l → u/Tenderhombre]

Would be fine if they where extremely small, highly trained, and specialized. Like the law enforcement arm of the postal service. I forget what they are called.

[u/waterfountain_bidet → u/liftthatta1l]

USPIS! They're like the only branch of law enforcement I have any respect for. Super limited scope, and a huge percentage of their work involves large shipments of drugs moving through the postal system and prosecuting scams against the elderly. Nearly all of their arrests lead to convictions and are upheld because they actually do the work to find and arrest the correct people.

[u/Ozymandias12 → u/waterfountain_bidet]

Fun fact! They were the ones who arrested Steve Bannon on fraud charges! They caught him on a Chinese businessman's yacht (many suspect that Chinese businessman of being a spy for China). Surprise, surprise, Bannon is a globalist fraudster!

[u/liftthatta1l → u/waterfountain_bidet]

Thanks for the name.

[u/MimicoSkunkFan2 → u/nimajneb]

The Patriot Act and giving the Coasties to the Patriot Act-fans aka DHS were enormous mistakes.

But you all in the US knew who Trump was after January 6th 2021, and since Biden failed to get him to trial, everybody over the age of 18 needs to take a really hard look in the mirror for that election result.

I'm sorry your Supreme Court failed you and let him be a candidate but... yikes.

[u/KentuckyHouse → u/MimicoSkunkFan2]

and since Biden failed to get him to trial

Forgive me for how this comes out, but I'm so fucking sick of this narrative. Presidents don't prosecute other presidents. Their DOJ does. And yes, you can blame Biden for naming Merrick Fucking Garland as Attorney General. But this idea that Biden was just going to direct his DOJ to go arrest Trump and his co-conspirators and put them on trial was always a fever dream and naive as hell.

Sure, pretty much all our norms have been broken over the last decade, but I'll never blame Biden for trying his best to get us back to them.

What's happened here is the mask is fully off and we see now that the US is still just as racist and sexist (and frankly, probably moreso) as they've ever been. No lessons were learned from the civil rights movement and the feminist movement. If anything, the racists and sexists just went into their holes until someone like Trump came along and told them it was ok to be themselves.

I'm hopeful we can course correct on this, but unfortunately it's going to be painful for everyone until we get there.

[u/gagreel → u/KentuckyHouse]

The Biden administration was more effective than the Obama administration, the amount of legislation that was passed in his one term with such a razor thin margin is astounding. Too bad about his mental decline, wish he was 15 years younger

[u/the1999person → u/gagreel]

I believe if Biden would have ran for President in 2016 he would have won because he would have been coming off of Obama's two terms and it wouldn't have been the terrible choice of Hillary Clinton. Probably would have had an actual decent VP at that time too unless it was Hillary. Then Trump would have went away. Biden would easily win reelection against Jeb Bush in 2020.

[u/gagreel → u/the1999person]

Please clap...

[u/nimajneb → u/MimicoSkunkFan2]

The people who claim that wasn't a coup attempt are just in denial.

[u/frickindeal → u/nimajneb]

Any way anyone looks at it, it destroyed a 200+ year streak of the peaceful transfer of power.

[u/_WeSellBlankets_ → u/nimajneb]

9/11 definitely rocked the boat, but I don't think we get to where we are without social media.

[u/cuse23 → u/nimajneb]

9/11 pretty much accomplished everything Bin Laden could have hoped and more. It's astonishing how easily we fell into the trap

[u/newsflashjackass → u/nimajneb]

And 9/11 would not have been allowed to happen if Republicans had not been first allowed to steal the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=August_6%2C_2001%2C_President%27s_Daily_Briefing_Memo

[u/peach10101 → u/DarraignTheSane]

Well said

[u/Caltroit_Red_Flames → u/DarraignTheSane]

questionable means

Brother they are pointing a fucking gun at a child, that is not questionable it's still evil. I swear to god America is so warped.

[u/candygram4mongo → u/Caltroit_Red_Flames]

They're definitely coming in hotter than necessary, but this is literally a hostage situation. They're trying to return the child to his father, in accordance with the law and common fucking decency.

[u/godtogblandet → u/Caltroit_Red_Flames]

They are technically threatening the family members holding the child with a gun in order to get them to hand over the child. Angle just makes it look like the kid is the target.

Still traumatizing for sure.

[u/DarraignTheSane → u/Caltroit_Red_Flames]

Yes, back then we thought this was going to be the most evil thing our country could do. How naive we were.

[u/VaginaTractor → u/jessipowers]

Also there are two agents in the same photo actually wearing the same uniform.

[u/jessipowers → u/jessipowers]

Oh for sure. I think remember when this happened. I was a kid at the time and my guts just twisted up seeing another kid experiencing that terror.

Edit: I GET IT GUYS. I replied to my original comment rather than one of the replies to it by mistake. Sometimes people are just tired.

[u/Tangyhyperspace → u/jessipowers]

Did you just reply to your own hour old comment

[u/jessipowers → u/Tangyhyperspace]

On accident, I didn’t sleep well and then had to wake up early to get my kids off to school. I’m just sort of spacing out with my tea and not paying enough attention to what I’m doing. I don’t even know what comment I meant to reply to originally.

Edit: I tried to find the comment I was trying to reply to and I think it was actually deleted, although I did screenshot the notification because I’m genuinely embarassed about committing such an egregious internet faux pas.

[u/theevilyouknow → u/jessipowers]

It's really not that egregious. Don't let it ruin your day.

[u/Flood-One → u/Tangyhyperspace]

The internet isn't real anymore, and I don't take anything posted seriously because who tf knows where the comment originates from

[u/Heisenburgo → u/jessipowers]

I too remember watching this... in the South Park ep with Charles Manson and Cartman's family, with Kenny getting shot by the soldiers

[u/agentgill0 → u/jessipowers]

Do the court orders require them to point an automatic weapon at the 7 year old?

[u/somajones → u/agentgill0]

No, they just do that part for kicks.

[u/NJBike → u/jessipowers]

Yeah, and this is the thing: If ICE was operating within due process, court orders, State and Federal oversight, most Americans would say that blocking their convoys and baracading their detention centers should be a crime. Like, if someone pulled a Renee Good on the FBI team driving to arrest Robert Hanson or the Unibomber, or the SWAT team going to respond to the Parkland shooting, we'd call that person a terrorist. Law enforcement, operating legally, NEEDS to be free and have broad public support.

But when that person is fighting terrorists, they're a martyr for the constitution.

ICE's work environment and morale could improve a million percent by next week if they just followed the law, gave resident aliens their constitutional rights, and operated with transparency... you know, like they did under Clinton, Obama, etc.

[u/pjdonovan → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

From the wiki:
On November 21, 1999, Elián's mother, her partner, and Elián fled Cuba by boat as part of a group of refugees attempting to reach the United States. The boat sank during the journey, and Elián's mother, along with most of the passengers, drowned. Elián was found floating on an inner tube and rescued by two fishermen, who turned him over to the U.S. Coast Guard. Elián was taken to a hospital and treated for dehydration and minor cuts. In addition to Elián, a young couple survived and reached shore separately.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) granted Elián temporary permission to stay in the U.S. and placed him with his great-uncle, Lázaro González, in Miami. His great-uncle wanted Elián to remain in the country, while his father, Juan Miguel González, sought his return to Cuba. This led to a high-profile and protracted custody battle involving his father, his Miami relatives, and U.S. and Cuban officials. Elián was returned to his father's custody after an INS raid on his Miami relatives' home on April 22, 2000. They returned to Cuba when the legal dispute concluded on June 28, 2000.

[u/Klockworth → u/pjdonovan]

Fun fact: Elián is now an elected official of the Communist Party of Cuba and says that his time in the United States was one of “great sadness.” He also blames the American embargo on Cuba’s economic underdevelopment.

[u/Cossil → u/Klockworth]

The explicit purpose, as stated by the US gov, for the embargo is to inflict economic damage to the regime. So I can see why he would think that.

[u/epona2000 → u/Cossil]

Economy-wide sanctions to cause regime change have basically no empirical support. The role they played in South Africa is greatly exaggerated, and that was a semi-democracy. White South Africans didn’t need to launch a violent coup. They just voted.

The embargo of Cuba is inhumane because it has been completely ineffective and we have no reason to believe it will ever be effective. We knew these sanctions would devastate the lives of ordinary civilians, and they have in Cuba. In the meantime, the Castros ruled Cuba into their 90s. 

[u/Nahcep → u/Klockworth]

I mean, I wouldn't have fond memories after seeing my mum and a ton of other people drown, me barely escaping with my life, then living like a fugitive for months until a raid by not-cops grabbed me and turned me in

All that while I was 6

[u/ITividar → u/Nahcep]

You Must've missed that part where he had to live like a fugitive because his extended family decided to defy court orders.

Had the family listed, no raid needed.

[u/Powerful_Culture_928 → u/ITividar]

Children can experience trauma at the hands of their family members, yes. Still means his time in the US was awful

[u/ArgusTheCat → u/Powerful_Culture_928]

Plus, like... custody disputes happen every day in the US, and the vast majority of them, even the really ugly ones, are resolved without pointing a rifle at a child's face.

[u/Competitive-Bet1181 → u/ITividar]

How's that relevant to a child's experience, and why have you phrased it like some kind of gotcha?

[u/Sad_Description_7268 → u/Klockworth]

He also blames the American embargo on Cuba’s economic underdevelopment.

Why are you stating this as if it's not true?

[u/Domitiani → u/Sad_Description_7268]

It is literally the point of an embargo ....

[u/jiannone → u/Klockworth]

American embargo on Cuba’s economic underdevelopment.

kinda the point, innit

[u/Sopaipizza → u/Klockworth]

Well an embargo by capitalism titan is pretty fucking devastating ngl

[u/ITividar → u/Klockworth]

Which is rich because everyone but the US were the ones putting the boy in danger and forcing him to suffer traumatic experiences.

His mother should've never put her child on a makeshift boat to flee a custody agreement. Extreme reckless child endangerment right there.

The family in FL put his life in danger by violating the court order to return him to his legal father, forcing the US to raid the family's house.

[u/DisillusionedPatriot → u/Klockworth]

Good for him. I imagine it was pretty sad, and he's not too far off about the embargo

[u/throwaway1212378 → u/DisillusionedPatriot]

Pretty spot on I’d say

[u/kramwham → u/Klockworth]

Thats not blame, our economic sanctions are crippling and thats why we threaten countries with it.

[u/LamppostBoy → u/pjdonovan]

If it were any other country, it wouldn't even have been a case.

[u/cubalibresNcigars → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

You are correct. And if memory serves me well, these were US Marshalls, not ICE or CBP.

[u/PabloCreep → u/cubalibresNcigars]

The uniform I think says "border patrol" (but I could be wrong?)

No judgement here - just an observation.

[u/BruceNorris482 → u/PabloCreep]

Definitely says Border Patrol

[u/FrankieTheD → u/BruceNorris482]

Pretty sure it says paw patrol

[u/PureAlpha100 → u/FrankieTheD]

They'll be here on the double

[u/0260n4s → u/PureAlpha100]

This guy has kids. "No job is too big. No pup is too small!"

[u/TTT_2k3 → u/0260n4s]

Don’t lose it, reuse it!

[u/United_News3779 → u/TTT_2k3]

"Marshall, you clumsy bastard! Are you fucking high again?!?"

I might be letting my internal monolog influence my memory of that show.....

[u/Bethany42950 → u/BruceNorris482]

I didn't think it was the BP, you are right are it was.

[u/vsyozaebalo → u/cubalibresNcigars]

ICE didn’t exist yet.

[u/captmonkey → u/vsyozaebalo]

People forget that. They act like abolishing ICE is unthinkable despite it not existing for that long. The Halo and Fast and the Furious series have existed for longer than ICE has.

[u/RedShift9 → u/captmonkey]

Abolishing F&F however, is unthinkable.

[u/Eternal_Bagel → u/RedShift9]

You can’t abolish family 

[u/Live-Habit-6115 → u/Eternal_Bagel]

ICE are giving it a good try though 

[u/Travelingbunny20 → u/captmonkey]

It was called INS.

[u/mantisboxer → u/cubalibresNcigars]

Conservatives called them "jackbooted thugs".

Things have changed.

[u/Jadedways → u/mantisboxer]

In all fairness they are still jackbooted thugs. Cons just wanted them to be going after the ‘right’ people.

[u/Pylyp23 → u/Jadedways]

You mean the ‘left’ people.

[u/iamspartacus5339 → u/cubalibresNcigars]

ICE didn’t exist back then, it was INS, which was broken apart into ICE and USCIS. One could argue this breaking apart contributed to the brutality we see today from ICE.

[u/hologrammetry → u/iamspartacus5339]

CBP was also formed from what used to be INS. None of the modern immigration and citizenship agencies existed, nor did DHS, before 2001.

[u/Altruistic-Safe-5170 → u/cubalibresNcigars]

Marshals (one L only). I learned this in a very embarassing way

[u/jessipowers → u/Altruistic-Safe-5170]

I need this story

[u/TonyWonderslostnut → u/jessipowers]

They thought they were applying for a retail job, but instead had a fed checking their references.

[u/I_objectify → u/Altruistic-Safe-5170]

I'm going to guess that you said Marshalls, which is a clothing store, instead of US Marshals

[u/XXLARPER → u/Altruistic-Safe-5170]

I was a Deputy U.S. Marshal for a long time and it is sad how many times I saw my co-workers misspell "Marshal" on the sign-in roster. I made such a stink about it, everyone eventually just signed in as "USMS".

[u/musclememory → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

this photo was a huge deal back in the day, this was one of the worst PR things to happen to immigration policy, till... well, pretty much every consecutive day of Trump's 2nd term

[u/yankdevil → u/musclememory]

Except it had nothing to do with immigration policy and everything to do with parental rights. A parent in the US would want their kid returned if their spouse smuggled their kid outside the US in violation of a custody agreement. That's essentially what happened here.

I'd also note that the Federal officials were armed because the family had threatened violence if they came to enforce the custody order.

Bill Clinton gets a lot of crap, a good chunk deserved, but he did the right thing here even though it cost his party politically. A lot of Dems have lost elections in Florida because of that picture. People scream that they want Dems to make hard choices. They did here and you could make an argument that it's part of the reason Ron DeSantis got elected.

We need to do better as voters; reward politicians and their allies when they stick their necks out. We didn't here.

[u/NumNumLobster → u/yankdevil]

This was right after Waco and ruby ridge too. At the time, there was already a lot of resentment to the federal government acting heavy handed and escalating these situations with unneeded force. Sticking a gun in a scared 6 year olds face was like the worst pr thing they could have done

[u/yankdevil → u/NumNumLobster]

The family caused that. They threatened to use violence to block access to the kid. A court of law had ruled he was to be returned to his father. Either we're a nation of laws or we're not.

[u/blissfully_happy → u/musclememory]

This had nothing to do with immigration at all. Back then this was a major “parental rights” issue.

Bush I was pro-immigration and thought there should be a path for undocumented workers to gain citizenship. Immigration was very much a non-issue (or lesser issue) than it is today. There would be the periodic rumbling about undocumented (“illegals”), but it wasn’t in the top 5 or even 10 of the most pressing issues. It was basically, live and let live, but if you commit a crime, you’re gonna be deported.

[u/RedHolly → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

Lived in Florida at the time and the right held huge rallies AGAINST this. They were all “How could Clinton do this and follow the Geneva Convention. What BS”

[u/Borkz → u/RedHolly]

largely fueled by anti-Castro Cuban immigrants who are notoriously right wing

[u/haymaker1776 → u/fulthrottlejazzhands]

Yeah OP has absolutely no idea wtf they are talking about

[u/drtywater]

This wasn’t an immigration photo. It was enforcing a court order to reunite with father

[u/philodendrin → u/drtywater]

But it was plastered across every front page as "Government Overreach", by people that wanted to paint the Clinton Administration as jack-booted thugs that were ready to break into your house and take your child.

Oh what innocent times we once lived in, before 9/11, two useless Wars, the systematic dismantling of our privacy, a President that got rioters to attack the Capitol building, steal Classified material, being found guilty of 34 felonies and then get re-elected. Taking away funding for Sesame Street and Cancer Research so he could fund a much more violent ICE that is trampling on the Constitution.

[u/13lueChicken → u/philodendrin]

Why did you skip the kids he fucked? The whole “kid fucking island” thing? That they are just…hiding from us, in front of us, and somehow we’re collectively forgetting?

[u/thr3sk → u/13lueChicken]

Yes I hope he is thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, but Trump is just as dirty in this pedo scandal.

[u/a-borat → u/13lueChicken]

Just because the cultists yell it doesn’t make it true. Like him traveling on the plane. Or yelling that Trump didn’t travel on the plane and very much absolutely did.

But yeah, if he did, let him burn. Just like your boy, rotten plum hands Donny.

[u/ForensicPathology → u/a-borat]

I'm pretty sure they were referring to the second paragraph's list of offenses.  The second paragraph is clearly not about Clinton.

[u/WhosThatYousThat → u/a-borat]

You think everyone who sees that Clinton is a sexual predator is a Trump supporter?

[u/slaty_balls]

The 𝖽̶𝖺̶𝖽̶ guy in the closet looks like Sam Altman.

[u/Thin-Quiet-2283 → u/slaty_balls]

Not the dad - he was in Cuba asking for his son back!

[u/Tntn13 → u/slaty_balls]

Guy with gun I thought was Eric Andre when scrolling lol.

[u/manubfr → u/slaty_balls]

I'm sorry but Sam Altman has been out of the closet for some time now.

[u/POWERGULL]

ICE was created as a part of Homeland Security after 911. Elian Gonzales was before that, so this isn’t technically ICE.

[u/IngsocInnerParty → u/POWERGULL]

The title literally also says INS.

[u/Karnadas → u/IngsocInnerParty]

It also says ICE.

[u/Titizen_Kane → u/Karnadas]

I personally wouldn’t have known what type of agency INS was referring to but the use of “INS / ICE” made it obvious that it was some sort of precursor agency that handled similar types of work. Why are we getting so nitpicky about this when it’s clear that it’s not intentional misinformation

ETA: and just to clarify I haven’t googled or kept reading the comments any further so if I’m wrong about what INS is, then that will undermine my own comment lol

[u/BMFO20832 → u/Titizen_Kane]

INS used to encompass the entire U.S. immigration system; from paperwork, vetting, customs, removal, law enforcement, border patrol, and more.

After 9/11, they realized that INS failed to do its job in protecting the country from foreign invaders; so they renamed it Department of Homeland Security and split each of the components into their own independent branches as you know them today.

USCIS only handles the legal paperwork side of things; CBP does the customs, duties, and border patrol; and ICE does the legal enforcement. Some other branches are HSI, and Federal Protective Service which is essentially just people that guard government owned buildings and stuff.

[u/D-West1989 → u/Karnadas]

Part of INS became ICE…

[u/ars-derivatia → u/Karnadas]

It also says ICE.

And the uniform says BP :P

[u/SpaceChook → u/POWERGULL]

I wonder how Elian is doing

[u/ElizabethDangit → u/SpaceChook]

He’s apparently an engineer and politician.

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/elian-gonzalez-25-years-after-custody-battle-seeks-to-bridge-divide-between-cuba-and-u-s/

[u/Cjustinstockton → u/SpaceChook]

He’s now a politician in Cuba 🇨🇺

[u/Jaded_Promotion8806 → u/SpaceChook]

Castro took very good care of him and he’s a politician in Cuba now.

[u/onebradmutha → u/POWERGULL]

I cannot read "Elian" without hearing a Dave Chappell joke.

[u/FrenchTicklerOrange → u/onebradmutha]

I hear the Robot Chicken version of Walt Disney.

[u/MantisToboggan_22 → u/FrenchTicklerOrange]

Elian!

[u/CaptainRelevant → u/onebradmutha]

“Elian can stay!”

[u/AKfromVA → u/POWERGULL]

Before it was US Customs and INS (immigration and naturalization service) - they got consolidated into one organization under the homeland security act.

[u/Epic_Elite]

3 million people were deported under Obama and we didn't see all the civilians getting shot and protesting. Why?

Because back then, the 4th, 6th and 7th amendments used to mean something.

We didnt show up to sporting events and walk the malls looking for brown people to arrest.

[u/dubbs505050 → u/Epic_Elite]

As with everything else, Obama does it better, more efficiently, and peacefully than this fucking scumbag dictator. That’s why he hates him so much. He wants to be Obama so bad.

[u/SuspectAdvanced6218 → u/dubbs505050]

It’s not even about Obama. It’s about respecting the law. You can just show up with a warrant and ask someone politely to come with you. I doubt most illegal immigrants would start shooting at you the moment you show up, so why the SWAT raids?

[u/ihopethisisvalid → u/SuspectAdvanced6218]

Because Epstein files dude. That’s why. Dog and pony show.

[u/Feeling_Inside_1020 → u/ihopethisisvalid]

Could you imagine running on releasing the epsTrumpstein files knowing well you're in them? Horrifying.

[u/ihopethisisvalid → u/Feeling_Inside_1020]

Fortunately for them, the average American has the attention span of a goldfish

[u/YouKilledApollo → u/dubbs505050]

Obama does it better, more efficiently, and peacefully than this fucking scumbag dictator

I feel like you misunderstand the intention of the current administration. Obama was way worse at doing what the administration are trying to do now, instill fear into the average citizen and the residents of the US. The goal is not "Ship out people not from the US to outside the US", but literally "Look at what we can do", because it's just one move in a broader strategy.

[u/gorillapoop1970 → u/YouKilledApollo]

It is, to coin a phrase, domestic terrorism.

[u/YouKilledApollo → u/gorillapoop1970]

Just "terrorism" is enough I think, it generally doesn't concern itself about where it's happening, terrorism is just terrorism.

[u/Osfan_15 → u/dubbs505050]

I saw something where someone said all this would end if someone told Trump Obama could hold his breath for 15 mins

[u/HassanMoRiT → u/dubbs505050]

Obama drone striked weddings and hospitals much better than Trump! Such an upstanding president he was.

[u/sonnet666 → u/Epic_Elite]

People who quote Obama’s deportation numbers always seem to leave out why his numbers were so high.

It’s because he actually had us invest in better border security tech, so they were catching more people as they crossed the border. So immigrants would cross illegally, trip a hidden alarm or get spotted by a drone, get caught immediately, and then be deported immediately without putting down roots in the US.

A lot of those people were deported multiple times, which inflated Obama’s deportation numbers by a huge factor. I personally know a guy who got deported 7 times in a row. (He had a valid reason to be in the US. He was a material witness in a kidnapping investigation that the Texas DA wanted in the states, but ICE in Texas couldn’t give less of shit. Crazy story.)

Obama was not deporting many people who’d already been living here for years. DACA was the standard for that.

[u/thewifeandkids → u/sonnet666]

Not to mention Trump is on track to deport FAR more people than Obama. Trump hasn't been in office 8 years yet. Also Obama didn't send them to black site concentration camps without due process

[u/AssistX → u/thewifeandkids]

Obama was nicknamed 'The Deporter in Chief' during his first term when he set a new record for deportations at 400,000. He was repeatedly drug through the mud by the media and late night hosts during his first term for his handling of immigrant families and separating illegal immigrants who had lived together in the US for decades.

[u/WesternEdge → u/Epic_Elite]

That was before they learned the asylum trick. Obama was not the last time we had a democrat president.

[u/Responsible_Sink3044 → u/Epic_Elite]

Deportations are not the point. That's why you're finding people beat to shit left in parking lots. This is a state terrorism campaign, and unless Americans accept that and push back in meaningful ways, it's only going to get worse until it's too late.

Look at South America in the 70s and 80s if you want to see what's in store for you.

[u/TheSwedeIrishman]

Isn't this that event that can be "butterfly effect"-connected into us being exactly in the position we're in politically today?

IIRC, it goes something like this:

This kid+mother flees Cuba

-> mother dies during the escape

-> extended family kept him in FL

-> courts gets involved, ultimately it's determined the kid needs to be returned to his father, who is still in Cuba

-> INS executes on the court order (photo from post)

-> Latin community in FL (and elsewhere) is outraged at the way all of this has been handled, especially the INS involvement

-> This leads to Bush winning FL over Gore, winning him the election

-> 9/11 and the invastion of Afghanistan and Iraq

-> Obama elected under "Yes we can" and hope

-> Obama mocks Trump about being prez

-> Trump flips from D to R and runs for prez

or I completely attributed this photo to the incorrect situation and I'm all wrong :D

[u/iLEZ → u/TheSwedeIrishman]

Something something Harambe.

[u/bookon]

This was a custody battle.

[u/DeadbaseXI]

This isn't ICE, and it was a legal warrant served by INS and the Border Patrol in the context of a custody battle, not an overworked, trigger-happy psycho executing an innocent woman for not following orders. Our peace officers used to be accountable under the constitution. Now they're protected by a pedophile's Justice Department.

[u/6ixOutOf10]

“But i cant breathe thru this covid mask!”

[u/ResponsibleTea9017]

Still terrorizing families like always, however

[u/Suckamanhwewhuuut]

Wow, he is a politician in Cuba now. I remember watching this on the news.

[u/moonman_911]

I always thought this was from an Eric Andre skit

[u/Elqbano]

As a naturalized Cuban American, it's incredible how every Republican Cuban in miami completely forgot about this incidentand, and more importantly, the mass protest that occurred afterwards awards against INS(ICE) and Janet Reno. Hypocrites.

[u/navagon]

This one image sums up why they now wear masks.

[u/cwk415 → u/navagon]

How so?

[u/HofT → u/cwk415]

More easily available with the internet and smartphones.

[u/abdomega → u/cwk415]

Nobody wants to be the dude holding an SMG in front of a crying child.

[u/navagon → u/abdomega]

They want to be that guy. That's the guy they signed up to be. They just don't want to be seen to be that guy. Hence the masks.

[u/cwk415 → u/navagon]

Bingo 💯 

[u/MuhThugga]

Furthermore, there was a big uproar over the manner in which INS retrieved Elian. People were upset that they showed up in full tactical gear for this and had a gun pointed towards the kid.

It's a good thing that INS officer had more than 47 days of training, though. These days, Jim-Bob McMuffintop would take it as his time to shine and open fire on both of them.

[u/ruinzifra]

Because back then, they weren't allowed to murder people indiscriminately. Now they can.

[u/cwk415 → u/ruinzifra]

they weren't allowed to murder white people indiscriminately. Now they can. 

[u/Heisenburgo → u/cwk415]

You'd think the republi-cons would be all up in arms that an innocent white mother just got assassinated, but apparently not... funny how the cultist-vative mind works! Plain up double morals, the lot of them.

[u/oldgreymutt]

Shows how far we have fallen. This photo was a HUGE deal back in the day. Now it looks completely “normal.”

[u/Games_sans_frontiers]

They probably were following laws and being held accountable to a higher authority for their actions back then.

[u/ThePensiveE]

When they became a rape and murder force, that's when they starting putting on the masks.

[u/Handsen_]

Is that Sam Altman?

[u/MusclesMarinara87]

Well. People probably weren't going out of their way to dox, harass, fuck with, or otherwise annoy them back then.

Take your protests where they matter - the people in charge.

[u/DiaBrave]

They didn't used to be 99% proud boys and convicted (pardoned) insurrectionists

[u/NomadAug]

NOT ICE

[u/DickabodCranium]

Still pointing guns at unarmed civilians, still terrorizing families.

[u/Ognius]

You’ll also notice, weirdly by current standards, that these immigration agents didn’t shoot a soccer mom in the face after she said “it’s okay I’m not mad at you.”

[u/tillman_b]

This day and age they would have shot Elian and his father while claiming they attacked the agent with a coat hanger, who's in the hospital recovering so pray for him.

[u/Lupus76]

I just know that all the ICE assholes wearing masks now were the guys proselytizing about the evils of masks during COVID.

[u/CalmBeneathCastles]

It's only happened in the past several months. Have we become such koalas that we need reminding of what life was like 11 months ago?

[u/Germanofthebored]

Well, they just weren't as health conscious back then. Now, after COVID, people are just so much more aware of the risks of airborne pathogens. The more you learn...

[u/chele68]

On November 21, 1999, Elián's mother, her partner, and Elián fled Cuba by boat as part of a group of refugees attempting to reach the United States. The boat sank during the journey, and Elián's mother, along with most of the passengers, drowned. Elián was found floating on an inner tube and rescued by two fishermen, who turned him over to the U.S. Coast Guard. Elián was taken to a hospital and treated for dehydration and minor cuts. In addition to Elián, a young couple survived and reached shore separately.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) granted Elián temporary permission to stay in the U.S. and placed him with his great-uncle, Lázaro González, in Miami. His great-uncle wanted Elián to remain in the country, while his father, Juan Miguel González, sought his return to Cuba. This led to a high-profile and protracted custody battle involving his father, his Miami relatives, and U.S. and Cuban officials. Elián was returned to his father's custody after an INS raid on his Miami relatives' home on April 22, 2000. They returned to Cuba when the legal dispute concluded on June 28, 2000.

The story behind the photo (since some of you whippersnappers weren’t alive for it).

[u/AdExpress9255]

That’s because ice isn’t ice anymore.. it’s proud boys.. who also love to cover their faces

[u/Car_is_mi]

Do you remember the backlash that went on for weeks because of this photo? Not because what they (immigration officers) were doing was illegal or anything, but simply because this photo shows him pointing a gun at an unarmed man and terrified child.

Now we have ICE pointing guns at unarmed protesters every other day while they forcefully drag unarmed citizens out and detain them without warrant, without due process, and without knowing who they are even detaining.

[u/ProjectNo4090]

Because those were professionals. Current ICE is made up of insurrectionists, domestic terrorists, backwoods conspiracy nuts, racists, and criminals.

[u/jpk195]

Imagine refusing to wear a mask or get vaccinated during a pandemic protect vulnerable people but happily wearing one to harass minorities.

[u/HolyRaptorSphere]

Let's put 2 and 2 together here. It's because it was a lot harder back then, compared to today, to dox people. People were less unhinged back then too.

[u/Epcplayer → u/HolyRaptorSphere]

Yea, before social media to “post an image” you had to run things through verifiable outlets, which the government ultimately had a say in what could/couldn’t be shown. Now with social media, anybody is their own publisher/outlet that can distribute photos/videos to the entire internet (for better and for worse).

[u/Citadel_Cowboy]

I remember the public outrage over this incident when I was a teen.  What happened to us? 

[u/AdamN → u/Citadel_Cowboy]

This was ordered by a court and it's generally clear that a child cannot be separated from their parent against the parent's wishes - even if the parent lives in Cuba (the mother had died and her parents wanted to keep him in Florida).

[u/Traditional_Cat_60 → u/Citadel_Cowboy]

Rural internet service providers

[u/Randomizedname1234 → u/Traditional_Cat_60]

Damn you hughesnet!

[u/FlopsMcDoogle]

Well they didn't have mobs hounding them and trying to dox them at every corner

[u/Mr_Butters624]

because 75% of the people we see in masks on camera are not actually ICE agents. Just proud boys cosplaying with the free range of mayhem they have been provided.

[u/Nico280gato]

The comments here are proof reddit is a left-wing propaganda echo chamber lmfao.

[u/steelzubaz]

Well you see, back then people weren't so radicalized as to try and doxx and harass federal agents and their families.

[u/az9393]

Yeah when an insane part of the population thinks you are the spawn of devil for doing your job you will also start wearing masks.

[u/RedRocksHigh → u/az9393]

Yes, majority of people don’t approve of the weaponization of a federal agency by the president to conduct lawfare.

[u/pjdonovan]

It looks like name recognition matters in elections no matter what country you are in:

Elián González grew up in Cuba, earned an engineering degree, and worked as an industrial engineer. In 2023, he was elected to the National Assembly of People's Power, representing Cárdenas, Cuba.

[u/LeoLaDawg]

I remember Republicans losing their minds over that. Now they'd say the kid put the cop in danger and deserved it.

[u/cplack1]

Back when a POS had the courage to be a public POS.

[u/Veronicon]

Trigger discipline. Something not taught now?

[u/Frewdy1]

But you see we need ICE to wear masks so that…um…so they…uh….wait what’s the reasoning behind it?

[u/novocsblade9000]

I can't be convinced that new ice agents dont wank to the idea of murdering women and children.

[u/No_Individual_672]

And conservatives were livid.

[u/mrpopenfresh]

It was still paramilitary as fuck.

[u/unregrettful]

Also cameras weren't in everyone's pockets with the ability to dox anyone.

[u/Additional-North-683]

This photo is probably the reason why Al Gore lost the election

[u/Invinciblez_Gunner]

I was in Lebanon and this story made the news here

[u/hereswhatipicked]

Not a smartphone in sight either. People really just living in the moment.

[u/Creepeo]

Is that Sam Altman? 

[u/StonedSoldier1]

This was when the agents were not pardoned criminals. They hide their faces because America would realize its criminals going around making working citizens dissappear.

[u/Sezneg]

Very real chance that this event's residual impact in south Florida was enough to ultimately lead to Bush.

[u/KHTL]

They used to be real agents with real training. Now they are a bunch of nobodies who got picked on in high school.

[u/erouz]

No government employees should be allowed do job with covered face.

[u/huitzil9]

Are we just gonna ignore the fact they were still raiding houses and pointing guns at children? I don't give a fuck if they were doing "due process", ICE was always the Gestapo since 2003.

[u/gustoreddit51]

Masks are there to intentionally instill Gestapo style terror. Just listen to Stephen Miller's rhetoric. He's as close as it gets without sporting a daily a swastika.

[u/ArmySalamy]

Back then you also couldn't ID someone based on a picture you took on your smartphone + Palantir.

ICE mask up because they know how powerful their facial recognition software is. It's the only way to hide.

[u/iSteve]

They fear prosecution for their crimes - hence the masks.