GANA

You may think this doesn’t concern you. You may tell yourself: “I’m not undocumented. I have nothing to worry about.” You’d be wrong.

What’s happening at the border, what’s being done in your name, isn’t just about immigrants. It’s not about national security, the rule of law, or even managing migration. It’s about building a permanent infrastructure of control. And once it’s built, it will be used on you.

Immigrants are not the endgame. They’re the test run.

Right now, this country is constructing a sprawling system of repression under the banner of “immigration enforcement”:

• AI-powered raids.
• Mass surveillance networks.
• Private detention centers.
• Biometric data collection.
• Indefinite detention without trial.
• Deported families with no hearings.
• Policies written under wartime laws from the 1700s.

That’s not a border policy. That’s a domestic threat.

Let’s be clear. The U.S. government is using laws designed for literal war, like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to strip due process from human beings. It allows mass expulsions without hearings, trials, or appeals. And it’s being justified with language that could easily be turned on any group deemed “a threat.” Sound familiar?

Because if history teaches us anything, it’s that emergency powers never stay where they start. Once normalized, once digitized, once automated, they spread. And they’re almost never rolled back.

This System Is Already Expanding

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has quietly become one of the most technologically advanced law enforcement agencies in the country. It runs one of the largest surveillance networks in the U.S., accessing driver’s license databases, utility records, cell phone data, facial recognition software, and more—all without a warrant.

Through tools like Palantir’s Investigative Case Management system, ICE builds vast digital profiles of individuals and families. These tools don’t vanish when border tensions cool. They become permanent features of domestic policing.

Ask yourself: What happens when this data infrastructure is turned on for climate refugees? Protesters? Labor organizers? Dissidents? Everyday citizens who refuse to “comply”?

This isn’t speculative. The surveillance state has already shown its willingness to expand beyond its original scope:

• Muslim Americans after 9/11.
• Black Lives Matter activists in 2020.
• Environmental defenders.
• Journalists.
• Parents at school board meetings are labeled as extremists.

And now? AI-enhanced facial recognition. Predictive policing algorithms. Emotion recognition software. Automated license plate readers. All quietly rolled into domestic policy, with migrants being tested first.

Private Profit, Public Control

It’s not just government overreach. This system is being built for profit.

Private prison companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic run massive immigration detention centers, funded with your tax dollars and guaranteed minimum occupancy quotas. Every person detained is a gold mine. Longer stays mean larger invoices.

Tech companies Amazon (AWS), Microsoft, Google, and Palantir are generating millions by supplying cloud infrastructure, surveillance tools, and artificial intelligence to the DHS and ICE. Every new contract, every expanded database, every software upgrade creates new incentives to widen the net.

Let’s stop pretending this is about public safety. This is about feeding the empire of capital, just as military contractors profit from endless wars. This isn’t about border security; it’s about business.

The Threat Isn’t at the Border. It’s in the Mirror.

We need to stop thinking this is about someone else. The tools being used on immigrants today, surveillance, raids, indefinite detention, and legal black holes, are coming for you next.

Do you protest against police violence?
Do you demand climate action?
Do you speak out against government corruption or corporate greed?

They will call you a threat, too.
They will run your face through their databases.
They will label you “non-compliant.”
And they will already have the infrastructure to neutralize you.

This is not an immigration issue. It’s a democracy issue. A human rights issue. A future issue. It’s about whether this country becomes a fully militarized surveillance state—or whether we wake up in time to stop it.

So What Do We Do?

First, understand that this is not a partisan issue. Both political parties have expanded these powers. Both have ignored the warning signs. We need a bottom-up rejection of this future.

Demand transparency.
Defund agencies that profit from human misery.
Ban facial recognition and predictive policing software.
End private detention contracts.
Protect due process for everyone, without exception.
And most of all, refuse to be silent.

This system survives on public indifference. It grows because we look the other way.

But not anymore. Not here.

Because if you wait until it affects you, it will be too late.