Ellen Barkin’s Controversial Comparison
Ellen Barkin, an elderly actress, has stirred up some strong reactions by comparing ICE agents to Nazis. She questioned, “What’s the difference between ICE arresting and disappearing thousands of innocent people and the Gestapo herding millions of Jews into bullock carts bound for concentration camps?” This remark has drawn a lot of attention, particularly as she is a well-known figure.
To clarify, it’s important to remember that the Nazis targeted innocent individuals solely for their identity, such as being Jewish or part of other marginalized groups. They also persecuted homosexuals and disabled people, sending them to camps for merely being who they were.
On the other hand, ICE only detains individuals who have entered the United States unlawfully and violated immigration laws. In most instances, this represents the least severe of their transgressions.
Moreover, it’s crucial to note that ICE does not engage in racial profiling. The agency aims to deport individuals based on legal violations, not external traits.
Also, ICE does not “disappear” individuals in the way one might imply. They detain individuals just like law enforcement does with citizens.
Perhaps the most significant difference lies in the aftermath of these actions.
The Nazis sent countless people to death camps. In contrast, ICE primarily returns individuals to their home countries, meaning, in many cases, they simply go back home. No bullock carts, no labor camps, and certainly no ovens—just a journey back home.
Barkin later mentioned, “What do you think? The government shouldn’t kill people. If a government systematically incinerated 8 million Jews, it would be the Holocaust. If another government rounded up people based on race, beat them, tortured them, and disappeared them, we see a thread as we run through Nazi Germany.”
This sort of statement might leave many feeling confused. After all, Barkin is primarily known for her acting, not for discussing complex ideas. But to the point…
All that ICE does is deport individuals who have entered the country illegally, without regard for race or ethnicity. It’s not their fault that most illegal immigrants don’t happen to come from Norway. ICE does not engage in beating or torturing people. To assert otherwise is fundamentally misleading. By making such claims, Barkin seems to send a harmful signal that could encourage violence against law enforcement, who are carrying out a challenging yet necessary task.
Recent events in New York only highlight these issues. It has become apparent that the so-called “Great Replacement Theory” holds weight. It wasn’t solely U.S.-born voters who placed an Islamist-communist individual in the mayor’s office; it involved foreign-born nationals who haven’t assimilated—essentially how this theory operates.
Barkin leans left politically, which could imply she supports the Great Replacement Theory. The main concern is that illegal immigrants may take jobs and housing from working-class people, rather than from stars like her.
