Honest question: how bad do things have to get in the US for citizens to qualify for refugee status?
this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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Consider how bad things are in Central America right now and then remember that despite the abject violence currently happening in many countries there right now, the U.S. still harbors deep anti-immigrant sentiments and we regularly turn away people fleeing said violence and return them to the custody of their would-be killers.
Yeah, you won't need an answer to this question when the times comes for us. You'll know, and you'll be willing to get on that boat or airplane leaving for anywhere else even if they aren't accepting refugees or the odds are slim that anywhere else will take you, because the alternative is certain death.
You're probably better off trying to emigrate now rather than waiting for things to get worse, if you are in a position where you can make that choice. Some people make their livings preying upon those who are desperately seeking an escape, so it's a bargain right now to leave for the cost of a plane ticket and whatever elbow grease you need to put in to achieve citizenship abroad.
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take a look at your neighbors houses.
are they on fire or being raided yet?
no? not yet.
Even then, it's a tossup. We've all seen how refugees are treated.
It's a scale thing.
one house on fire, it's ok.
one house being raided, it's ok.
five houses being raided and four houses on fire, time to gtfo.
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This has been a fucking long 2 weeks, and he’s not even in office yet, Jesus Christ
Not even the mercy of knowing most of the country is against him. Most of the country that gives a shit supports him.
If it gives you any comfort, I think there were a ton of people who "gave a shit", but were (and in many encounters I've had: still are) just too stupid to realize that "morally withholding" a vote for Kamala was going to enable something incalculably worse.
Those people aren't evil. Just unbelievably stupid. So much so that they're a danger to themselves and others. But not evil.
The outcome is the same, and they learned nothing from 2016-2020, so fuck 'em.
Unfortunately, we're also fucked by this.
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Not a super impactful consolation, but updated vote totals put Trump under 50% so only a plurality of the country that gives a shit supports him
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I was raped last night. I can’t even think. It’s really clear that the world doesn’t want people like me to exist. Apparently they’re sending text messages to LGBT people about reeducation camps now, like they were sending messages about slavery to black folks a week ago.
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Want to know what’s fun? Watching your friends decide who’s fleeing, who’s arming up, and who’s lying to themselves. Welcome to queer communities in a red state in November 2024. Gods have mercy on us
#2 here. It would be nice to leave but I feel like I need to stay and fight.
That’s ok. I’m proud of those of you who are doing that. I’m leaving, I’ve spent a long time working out of my martyr complex and my wife and I have decided to flee.
I think the biggest thing we can do here as a community is respect each other’s choices and try to figure out what we can do to help most from the position we take.
I want to make sure our history isn’t lost. I want to make sure that if we need voices advocating for us somewhere people will listen that I can be one. And I want to make clear that until I feel safe returning home that I am an Ohioan in exile, and that that means things aren’t ok over there.
Fight well and know that some of those of us who are fleeing are setting up networks to get y’all out if you need it.
Stay safe. Leave if possible.
Already in the process. My wife and I committed to leave on the 6th, and are currently packing. Our lease ends in the spring and at that point I quit my job and we move to a blue state (already have arrangements).
Oh and I got a passport two years ago. I’m living by the understanding that if you wait to flee until you absolutely have to, you may not be able to. Better to take some risks for safety that may just be better choices regardless. I’ve always wanted to live in a coastal state, I’m a little excited when I let myself forget the devastation that’s coming.
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I hate things being undecided so I've been a lot more relaxed since the election. Yeah, the asshole won, but at least I know what's going to happen. The anxiety of not knowing was worse than the anxiety of having a racist dipshit in charge, at least for me.
I sympathize a bit. I remember my heart pounding in the lead-up to the election, to the point where I felt ill. Now it's just an endless pit of despair instead of a panic attack.
I can identify with all of that. I'm seeing plenty of people and orgs so ready to "fight back" already, and I'm nowhere near ready for all that yet... this clusterfuck of nominations doesn't help anything.
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Ready for the military to go through the county and ethnically cleanse you, or your family, or your neighbors and co-workers? Ready to find out what bread lines are like? Ready to experience population collapse?
Honestly, that would be one of the few ways I can see out of this mess. Because this... this would evoke resistance, this would evoke outrage and I think they're not going to give us that just yet. They're going to cook us slowly.
Fascism isn't digging it's claws into the West "Beerhall Putsch"-style, it's going to be "Prussia contra Reich"-style.
The ruling basically tolerated a breach of the constitution because the court shied away from accusing the President of a breach of the constitution. (Translated from german Wikipedia "Preußen contra Reich")
It's not going to be ethnic cleansing right now, it's not going to be bread lines just now. But the fascist takeover is already happening and has been happening for quite some time and it looks like this: The quiet abolition of checks and balances through the courts and the continuous erosion of legal barriers to a party-dictatorship. It's about gerrymandering, right to vote, about free press, free speech and multiple media conglomerates worth of disinformation.
The next four years will be one legal battle after another and one (relatively small) overstepping of a boundary after another. It's not gonna start with the military in inner cities, it's going to start with more immunities for police, with the eradication of resistance in the executive branch. New generals, new bureaucrats, new judges... if you want to know what Trumps takeover will look like... look to Hungary and Turkey, Trump and the entire GOP have already praised Orban and Erdogan as strong leaders and models for this new term.
Honestly I think hyperbole could be dangerous! If we now tell everyone to expect the goose-stepping, they will say "see, the bad things you predict don't happen!" While completely ignoring the continuous erosion of the democratic ability to resist them through the system.
Yeah, things are going to get bad, but it's going to happen slowly. So slowly that a lot of people panicking right now will calm down and go back to business as usual. We will be distracted and forget this is happening, until it's too late to do anything about it. I'd be shocked if Trump is even president/alive still when America goes full mask-off fascist.
That's what's so insidious about it.
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Okay, be real. Trump isn't going to let there be bread lines; he won't set any up, and any public direct action is going to be disrupted with the military and cops. People will starve.
I’d expect bread lines to be harassed or attacked by conservatives that get riled up about such communism happening out in the open.
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Back in 2015, about 5 mo the after my youngest was born, I had the (at the time) most horrific day I ever had in my life. Long story short, I got fired from my job (for mistakenly thinking HR was on my side), my oldest son had a note sent home about a live breakout at his daycare, and it rained so hard in n 30 minutes that my house flooded (the top of the mailbox was almost under water).
I got home and was upset because of being fired (I was already beyond burned out from the job to begin with), and I was trying to patiently sift through my son’s hair to check for lice. I was not a very patient person at that point, said fuck it, and grabbed my hair clippers to shave my son’s head bald. I’ve never shaved anyone else’s head, but my own, so I probably was a little too aggressive, and the unit got hot and burned my son.
My 5mo was crying, so I took him and was trying to calm him down. Around this point the storm of the century began. It was so bad that lightning hit really close to the house (three times). Each time it hit, the lights would go off and back on, and then thunder struck. It was very disturbing to say the least.
Then the water began to rise. And it kept rising. And it wouldn’t stop. No matter how much I panicked and begged for it to stop. I was personally in tears. Then I noticed my neighbor trying to drive through the flooded waters, and her car got swept away by the water. I saw the water reaching her side view mirrors, and I handed my wife the baby and was about to bolt out the door to try to do “something” (it was straight instinct).
In short order, the rain started stopping, and all the water started receding. My panic slowly faded as I realized we weren’t going to drown. In no time my neighbors (most who we hadn’t met yet) all descended on my house with mops, buckets, and fans to help start cleaning up the mess. The carpet and bottom 6” of drywall were ruined. I spent my unscheduled vacation pulling up the carpet, replacing the soaked drywall, and even painting the office (it got flooded too).
Our office and living room was crammed into our dining room/kitchen (thank goodness for open concepts). We eventually replaced the carpet and painted everything. I wet vacuumed my car and removed 16 gallons of water, took out the seats, and put fans on it for a week straight.
Those neighbors became our best friends. We all still stay in touch and have multiple get togethers each year. A lot has changed since that day, myself included. I consider it for the better.
All that to say: this too shall pass.
That's a nice story and all, but what happens when your wife is an immigrant and your neighbors all decide to "do something about it?" Or they just say nothing as the federal goons come to deport them.
There are incalculable ways for this to NOT pass for millions of us. Saying this too shall pass is some privileged bullshit.
First of all, I’m not going to apologize for attempting to comfort anybody. There is no privilege in that.
Secondly, I get you’re mad and scared/worried (or whatever adjective you prefer for how you’re feeling right now), but let me assure you that I am not your enemy. Do not follow in your neighbor’s footsteps; focus your anger where it belongs: the establishment, and billionaires. They are the threat. Not you or me.
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Turn that despair into anger!
Anger is like fire. It burns hot, but it needs fuel, and leaves behind nothing but ash.
I've been angry for a long, long time. Now I feel tired and broken. Nothing left but the occasional ember in the cinders.
I'll recover, I'm sure. But not today. And probably not tomorrow. Probably not for a while.
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