Thread by @MotherJones

1/ Americans once bragged about the US asylum system to the rest of the world. Donald Trump targeted and destroyed it.

As Election Day approaches, let’s take a look back at Trump's immigration legacy: bit.ly/35FpASZ

2/ When he announced his presidential bid, Trump called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers, and gave a telling preview of his war on asylum, saying, "The US has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems."

3/ There was cruelty and inhumanity in the immigration system before Trump became president. But when he and white nationalist senior adviser Stephen Miller took over, they stripped the system of anything that acknowledged the humanity of those trapped within it.

4/ The Trump administration limited the number of asylum claims processed in a given day, sent asylum seekers to Mexico to await their court dates, enacted an asylum ban at the border, deported people to seek asylum elsewhere, and used COVID to shut the border for good.

5/ As @id_gordon writes, “Asylum is dead. And the power of stories—the one the US government tells about the fairness of our laws, the one we tell ourselves about our goodness, our decency as Americans—died with it.” bit.ly/35Fm8rc

6/ @id_gordon's story is the first in a series about immigration in the Trump era that we’re running this week. As the week goes on, we’ll share more on this thread. He’s a preview of what’s to come: bit.ly/3oxQAMS

Next up, @nlanard uncovered a 1931 report revealing illegal and “tyrannic” practices carried out by immigration officials.

“Separation of families.”
“Invasion of personal rights.”
“Illegal searches and seizures.”

Sound familiar? bit.ly/37IQJqA

.@Fer_Echavarri and @nlanard share the first-person stories of eight people who ran into Trump’s immigration crackdown. In some cases, their futures hinge on what happens Tuesday. For others, the results of the election are moot. It’s already too late. bit.ly/3mHpAst

Read a thread of their stories here:

https://twitter.com/MotherJones/status/1321848500460670976

In the final installment of our series, @Fer_Echavarri and @nlanard lay out why a second Trump term will be even worse for immigrants: "With no reelection to worry about, Stephen Miller would be free to pursue his most toxic dreams." bit.ly/2HT0Xdi