Episode 13: Where Do We Go From Here

Immigrants' Rights in the Face of Trump II

Dear friends,

Its been a while! I inadvertently, maybe on purpose, skipped November’s essay, and I wanted to relay my sincere apologies. I feel bad! But also I felt good at the time because I had just come back from Viable Paradise, a week-long workshop for speculative fiction writers in Martha’s Vineyard, where I met so many amazing and warm-hearted people. I never thought that I could get close to as many people as I did during the workshop, but thankfully its true. I’ll write about that experience soon because there’s so much to unpack.

And then the election happened, and I both expected and didn’t expect the outcome. It is heartbreaking and it is also more of the same. I write about that today.

Best,
Vivek.

P.S. - I’m trying this new thing where I provide the latest books, movies, TV shows, or other media I’m reading or have read after the essay for paid subscribers. I also talk about where I am in my fiction writing, and hope to preview excerpts and screenshots of my process.

The future looks bleak and you feel disgusted. Questions roil, deep and difficult, and you’d would much rather go numb than query again. Regret. Confusion. Betrayal. You wonder why there are people who could vote for someone that we know will harm Trans folks, deport immigrant families and their U.S. citizen children, speaks to the working class but systemically seeks to destroy them, and who has abused women and convicted of related crimes but is able to run for and get into the highest office, yet again.

As if abuse and treachery is what people really want.

But that is not what you want. And you know it’s not what you need. But all of this makes you tremble.

You talk with your friends, your family and you wonder: Did you do this? You point fingers but there is no use because what’s done is done.

I too feel that way, trying to make my way through the impact of the 2024 election on everything. The air feels shallow, lost a bit.

I work at an immigration legal services organization, and pain streams through the phone lines and emails and text messages, hanging heavy in the people walking into our doors across California. They come in wringing their hands, their foreheads furrowed, their futures unclear. People worried that that there will be no end to the threats on their families, on their bodies. All of which lead to anxiety, fear, confusion and quite possibly banishment in the form of deportation.

That fear is well justified after the first Trump administration. On his first day, as the hastiliy implemented Muslim ban wrought havoc on communities — people resisted. I could only watch as I was meant to spend the day with my two year old. I had the half the mind to strap her on my body and go to the nearest airport to be part of that resistance.

But over the succeeding years, the resistance manifested in many ways. One thing I know is that it will be nearly impossible for Trump to do everything that he campaigned on, and while that is a feature for every politician who tries to get in good with American voters, I think its especially true with Trump II.

In an article by my friend and mentor Ahilan Arulanantham’s in Just Security entitled “Trump’s Immigration Agenda: A Closer Look” he outlines the ways in which Trump would possibly fail in his ravaging of immigrant communities.

In it, Arulananatham outlines a few key areas where Trump campaigned, how Trump I’s plans fell through, and how it might fare during Trump II. Trump I’s attempts to eliminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program fell through due to litigation, so much that “[a]s a result, Trump’s attempt to end the TPS program was a total failure. Literally ever person who had TPS in 2016 remains eligible for it today….”

Trump I’s plans to deport en masse was more rhetoric than reality. As Arulanantham points out, in his first term, Trump actually deported less people in his first term than either of Obama’s terms in office.

Much of Arulanantham’s article focuses on the successful use of litigation to challenge the changes in policies and laws that Trump may put forward. But he also wonders how would those types of changes in policy and practice work now, especially with a Supreme Court that has already done away with Roe v. Wade, Affirmative Action, and other cases that for so long protected vulnerable groups.

I wonder the same thing; I have to for my work and for the people I care about.

When I was working at the National Immigration Law Center, I learned that much of the anti-immigrant legislation on the state level had been drafted by Kris Kobach, whose mantra it seemed was “attrition through enforcement.” What this means is that through increasing immigration enforcement and increasing the use of work verification such as E-Verify, immigrants could be gradually squeezed out of the opportunities and end up deciding to leave the U.S. on their own. But that reasoning is false; many cannot leave and won’t leave because their lives are here, and there are even less opportunities in their home countries. This strategy has only been amplified, turned monstrous with the incoming President.

All of this chaos for immigrants and their families is the intention of Trump. And this leads to so many who fear waking up under the boot of immigration.

BUT I am hopeful. It is during difficult times that people try new things, that people create more and engage in more focused action (particularly in the courts). That hundreds of people showed up at the airports on the first day of Trump I’s term is encouraging. That all of us who worked through Trump I to resist also at minimum be comfortable with chaos. We have to continue to build and reinforce the structures that support vulnerable groups, ensuring that people are taking care of each other and themselves. We have to think through strategies that will mitigate the ability of Trump II to cause harm. Or at least try.

Ok, this is the space where I get to talk about what I’ve been obsessed with. If you’re reading this, it means you’re a paid subscriber! For this, I am eternally grateful.

What I’m loving

• I’m reading Vajra Chandrasekera’s excellent debut novel “The Saint of Bright Doors” and just from the opening pages, I am blown away. I’ve been following Vajra for a while, reading his short stories in Clarkesworld and other speculative fiction outlets.

• I’m watching Arcane Season 2! I was turned on to watch Season 1 after hearing people talk about it on the podcast Just Keep Writing, which is geared towards speculative fiction writers and has great guest interviews and breakdown of writing craft. When my writing crew from Viable Paradise all binged Season 2 and that was all that was being talked about on our discord, I had no choice but to watch. Its just so…amazing. The animation, sound design, and most importantly, the character and plot development is just *chef’s kiss*.

Fiction Works in Progress

After Viable Paradise (“VP”), I worked feverishly to submit a piece regarding surveillance and the police state to Strange Horizons, for their copaganda call. I had to sacrifice a lot to put that out, and I’m still picking up the pieces. The challenges I faced might be the subject of one of my future essays.

I’m currently working on revising the piece I originally submitted to VP that deals with borders, walls, and the immigrant experience and placing that in the context of Hindu fundamentalism. Its a short story but could easily expand out into a novel. I’m having trouble structuring it, but I just need to do the work (which is what I found has been the best writing advice, just to work at it and keep working at it, and then work on it some more, and then go back and revise it and work at it and work on it some more.)

Craft Talk

Lately I’ve been obsessed with story structure. I am currently reading Save the Cat Writes a Novel, which is a revelation (kind of) in the sense that I didn’t realize that there was more to consider beyond the classic 3 Act structure. During VP, Max Gladstone (yes, that Max Gladstone) taught us the 5 Act structure, using Hamlet as the example. It was immensely helpful, so I’m building on that knowledge by learning more.

Thanks for reading! See you next month! If you’d like to see more of this, please let me know.