By Will O’Brien (above, right, in DC earlier this month)

The outrages of the Trump Administration are legion, but in recent days I have been especially distressed by one aspect: the brazen cruelty coming out the of the White House.  I am not talking about the policies, which are arguably cruel in themselves, but the intentional and insistent PR campaign of using social media and other public outlets to gleefully mock and degrade immigrants. 

Not that it’s new: In March, the White House X account featured an image of a handcuffed and weeping Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, who had been violently seized on the streets by ICE agents – cartoonized in the style of Japanese Studio Ghibili animation.  In April, the White House posted a video showing men in shackles preparing to board a deportation flight – to the music accompaniment of the old pop song  “Na na hey hey (kiss him goodbye).”  The Department of Homeland Security infamously circulated the photo of “ICE Barbie” Kristi Noem at the El Salvador prison, the detainees shaved and in nothing but underwear while she flaunted her flowing hair, a tight-fitting white shirt, bounteous make-up, and a $50,000 Rolex.

This campaign of orchestrated public cruelty has reached a new level – starting with the offensive name – with Alligator Alcatraz.

In his first administration, Trump frequently floated the idea of an alligator- and snake-stocked trench along the border – even requesting a cost estimate.  Many of his advisors back then carefully suggested this was perhaps not the best idea (only to be booted).  Now, surrounded by mindless sycophants, he is free to indulge his pre-pubescent fantasy. 

The detention center in the Florida Everglades, constructed in a matter of days, can hold 3,000 immigrants (with plans for expansion).  But it is far more than a structure to facilitate a policy.  The strategy behind this center is clearly dripping with very intentional and malicious symbolism.

The Administration posted images of Trump posing with a group of alligators donning ICE hats.  At the “grand opening,” the President, alongside a snickering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, made several jokes about alligator cops and the apparently humorous spectacle of immigrants running from alligators and poisonous snakes and getting caught.  Far-right activist and Trump advisor Laura Loomer celebrated the facility on her X account, writing, “Alligator lives matter. The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we get started now.”

To add to the toxic blend of heartlessness and absurdity, the Florida Republican Party has been hawking “Alligator Alcatraz” tee shirts, hats, and beverage coolers.

Using images of persons bound in chains for sadistic internet trolling and now jeering at the spectacle of human beings eaten by alligators – these are not funny.  They are degrading and dehumanizing, not only of the immigrants themselves, but of all of us.  And they are a slippery slope toward more heinous possibilities.

The facility evokes Jim Crow-era racist propaganda that frequently made allusions to African Americans (particularly Black children) as “alligator bait.”  As journalist and blogger Ja’han Jones wrote, “The point of this propaganda was to dehumanize African Americans and train people to treat any violence meted out to them as harmless or even funny” – a precedent that he sees at work again with this detention center.

In his book Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization, psychologist David Livingstone, analyzes how dehumanizing language, including consistent references to Blacks as “monsters,” created the atmosphere for lynchings, which were public events where hundreds of people –including children – enjoyed the spectacle of mutilation and murder.  He has cited the parallels to the Nazi party’s aggressive propaganda campaign to degrade and dehumanize Jews. Using gross cartoon caricatures, a linguistic barrage equating them with vermin, rats, foxes, and vultures, and constant accusations of criminality and demonic plots, this campaign laid the groundwork for the eventual policy of mass systematic slaughter of six million Jews.

At the very least, somebody should remind the Administration that according to the U.S. legal system all of these immigrants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  And if any constitutional lawyers are still left, they should raise that little matter of cruel and unusual punishment.

Far more significantly, we need to recognize the moral decay to our national soul that this public cruelty represents.  And we need to look to history to see what these orchestrated campaigns of dehumanization have led to. 

Of course, we insist, it’s all just joking around – it’s not going to lead to anything,…

After all, this is America.  The more likely development might be a reality TV show sponsored by the White House in which twelve detainees are given the chance to reach their freedom if they can successfully cross narrow passages over treacherous alligator-filled waters.  All broadcast live (on Fox no doubt) and featuring live betting on which contestants will make it out alive and which will succumb to a violent and bloody demise. 

Ludicrous?  Well, the Republicans are already selling tee shirts.

Will O’Brien is coordinator of The Alternative Seminary.  He has been advocating on issues of poverty and homelessness in Philadelphia for almost forty years.