"HIDING LIKE ANNE FRANK IN AMERICA"

when future generations look back on this moment, on these raids, these broken families, these children trembling in fear, what will they say about us?

Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump has issued an order so cruel, so draconian, that it echoes one of history’s darkest moments. Under this new decree, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “ICE”, agents are now empowered to storm into schools, hospitals, and even houses of worship to track down undocumented immigrants. That’s right, places once deemed safe havens, where children learn, the sick receive care, and the faithful seek solace, are now battlegrounds in Trump’s war on the most vulnerable among us. Families, already living in the shadows, are now being hunted like criminals, despite having committed no violent offenses, no heinous crimes, only the so-called “sin” of seeking a better life in the supposed land of the free.

Now, I know some of you are thinking; come on, Michael, isn’t that a stretch? Comparing this to Anne Frank? But tell me, how is it any different? A terrified child, hiding in an attic in Amsterdam, fearing every creak of the floorboards, every unfamiliar voice below, praying she wouldn’t be discovered and sent to her death. And today? A mother holds her child’s hand as they cower in the back of a church basement, lights off, voices hushed, hearts pounding, as ICE agents prowl just outside the door. The fear, the anxiety, the sheer helplessness; it’s the same fuckin thing.

Anne Frank was guilty of nothing more than being Jewish in a world where that had been deemed unacceptable by the Nazi regime. These families Trump is targeting? They’re guilty of nothing more than being born on the wrong side of an imaginary line. But in Trump’s America, that’s enough to justify tearing them apart. That’s enough to justify shattering families, deporting parents while their U.S.-born children wail in confusion, left behind in a country that supposedly values family and Christian charity.

Think about what that does to a child. A seven-year-old girl who spent every morning rushing to get to school on time now wakes up in a cold sweat because she hears footsteps in the hallway and thinks it's ICE coming for her and her family. A ten-year-old boy who used to love playing soccer with his friends now refuses to leave his house because he saw his neighbor’s get dragged away in the middle of the night, never to return. What happens to a generation raised in fear? Raised knowing that at any moment, through no fault of their own, their lives could be ripped apart?

And before the MAGA crowd starts screaming at me about “illegal” immigration, let’s get one thing straight: I agree…they are illegal; but, they are also human beings. These are families, workers, students; people who contribute to this country every single day. And yes, most of them pay taxes! And yet Trump and his goons want to treat them like criminals, like vermin to be flushed out and exterminated. The cruelty is the point. Trump knows his rabid base eats this shit up; he throws them red meat, and they cheer as innocent people are hauled away in handcuffs.

Let’s be clear about what this policy really is; it’s state-sanctioned terror. It’s a modern-day pogrom. When ICE agents storm into hospitals, looking for mothers cradling newborns or dealing with a sickness, or raid schools where children are supposed to feel safe, that’s not law enforcement; that’s fascism. It’s using fear as a weapon, it’s breaking people without firing a single bullet. And worst of all? It’s completely unnecessary. These aren’t violent criminals. They aren’t MS-13 gangsters or drug cartel kingpins. They’re restaurant workers, farm laborers, construction workers, babysitters; people who do the work most Americans wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

You think Trump doesn’t know that? Of course he does. But to him, these people aren’t people; they’re pawns. He needs an enemy, someone to demonize, to rally his base. If it’s not immigrants, it’s Muslims. If it’s not Muslims, it’s Black Lives Matter. If it’s not BLM, it’s LGBTQ+ Americans. If it’s not LGBTQ+, it’s the transgender community. The man, no he and his MAGA base, needs a scapegoat to cover up for their own failings. And so, he feeds the flames of hatred to them, convincing his followers that their lives are worse because of some hard-working father or mother from Guatemala or San Salvador who picks strawberries in California for a fraction of minimum wage.

Put yourself in the shoes of these families. Imagine a mother, clutching her five-year-old’s hand as they flee their home, leaving everything behind because they’ve heard whispers that ICE is coming. They take refuge in a church, where for now, they’re safe. But for how long? One raid, one informant, one stroke of the President’s Sharpie, and it is all over.

Anne Frank’s family had benefactors, people willing to risk their own lives to protect them. Some Americans today are doing the same; activists, churches, teachers who refuse to turn in their students. But where is the government in all of this? Where is the so-called morality of a nation that brags about being built by immigrants?

It’s easy to think of history’s horrors as ancient, as something that could never happen again. But that’s exactly how it starts. First, you justify it; “They shouldn’t have been here in the first place.” Then, you escalate; “We’re just enforcing the law.” Before you know it, you’re rounding up innocent people, loading them into buses, sending them away to detention centers. If it all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. History doesn’t just repeat itself; it rhymes. And if we don’t call this out for what it is, if we don’t stand up and fight, then we are all complicit in the same kind of cruelty that sent Anne Frank and millions of others to their deaths.

So let me ask you this, when future generations look back on this moment, on these raids, these broken families, these children trembling in fear, what will they say about us? Will they say we stood by and let it happen? That we shrugged and said, “Well, they were here illegally?” Or will they say we fought like hell to stop it? Will they say we did everything in our power to ensure that history didn’t repeat itself?

Trump has made it clear who he is. He is a man without conscience, without morality, without a single ounce of empathy for those who suffer. And if we allow this to continue, if we allow our government to hunt down innocent people in schools, in hospitals, in churches, then we have failed; not just as a nation, but as human beings. Couldn’t Trump just create a bi-partisan committee to draft legislation overhauling our broken immigration policy?

Anne Frank once wrote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” The time is now. The time is always now. Because if we don’t stand up for these families today, if we don’t fight against this cruelty, then we will wake up one day and realize; we are no better than the monsters we swore we would never become.

Kindly consider supporting this platform and all independent journalist here on Substack. Plus, the first 240 Founding Members to this platform receive a rare, signed, numbered edition of my NYT Bestseller “Revenge, How Donald Trump weaponized The US Department Of Justice Against His Critics.” Join now!