Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

Were you fortunate to have had a favorite uncle when you were younger? Someone who personified kindness? I was. My family and I had a positive memory of a certain Uncle Sam who welcomed our ancestors into the United States with open arms. But that Uncle Sam has disappeared. The new Uncle Sam is mean and spiteful; he refuses to allow entry into his country for those desperately in need of a safe haven. The altruistic Uncle Sam who invited people fleeing persecution into his home no longer exists. The new Uncle Sam signed an order banning people from 12 countries from entering the United States. He has called up thousands of National Guard troops to support rounding up migrants as well as Marines to deter protests. The kindhearted Uncle Sam my family remembered has radically changed. An unkind, mean spirited Uncle Sam now sits in the White House.

A White House Newsletter of March 4, 2025, showed how the current Uncle Sam views immigrants: “President Donald J. Trump has launched the largest criminal illegal immigrant deportation operation in American history…illegal immigrant killers, rapists, and drug dealers have been taken off the streets in droves as the heroes of law enforcement are once again empowered to do their jobs.” Uncle Sam’s homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, posted on X : “Friendly reminder: If you illegally invaded our country the only ‘process’ you are entitled to is deportation.”

The new Uncle Sam gives orders to grab people off the streets under his perception that they are a danger to the United States. He believes the United States is under attack. Instead of welcoming migrants with open arms, the new Uncle Sam issues an executive order “Protecting the American People Against........

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