Jessica (from the Smoke Signal): Do you consent to this conversation being recorded?
Mr. Macasero: Sure, yes.
Jessica: Yeah, you can speak, okay, yeah.
Mr. Macasero: The whole immigration thing, it’s so complex. But the whole, I don’t know just the optics of the two, the way, I don’t know if this was in your write up, but like, was it yesterday or two days ago? Or there was like an ice raid Minnesota, or there was like the ice
Jessica: Yes.
Mr. Macasero: Actually, don’t know all the details, but I only know that it was a big thing about like, it was like, filmed how they shot a driver, I believe, yes, and they, you know, the Trump administration is saying that the car or the driver ran the ice agent over, but from the video, yeah, it’s not that obvious. And even then, I don’t believe law enforcement or that part of government. I don’t think that’s their first that’s meant to be their first response. So it is concerning, I guess, even like how I don’t even know what the word I mean, it’s life threatening, right? The way they do it. I mean, these policies are meant to I guess it just reminds me of, like, where’s the civility? I guess you know that’s just my concern. Yeah. I mean, we all have our thoughts on, you know, immigration and maybe, like, lawful immigration, or even just be accommodating to everyone who accommodating to everyone in the world who’s looking for a better life. And yes, there are policies or programs in place, but that’s, I think that’s what it was meant to be. I guess there’s supposed to be, like, that rule of law thinking, right, where you just can’t just start, like, shooting or even pulling people off, like, without the, you know, like, what do they call it, like a warrant or a due process or something? So, yeah, so that is my thought. Is like, yeah, it is concerning me. I don’t know what to do about it’s just, I feel like it’s snowballing. I mean, I know that there’s been, I believe I passed by the other day there was a protest on Walmart and paseo. I think it was next to the spear the just building. So, yeah, so that’s important, but maybe we can think of more effective ways to really get to whoever’s making the decision. I mean, Trump’s making the decision, President Trump’s making the decision. Seems like the Department of Homeland Security, I believe, is a big part of it. But how do we engage them? I don’t know. It seems like they’ve been, like, really emboldened because of the elections, right? So seems like, Okay, this is what the people want.
They’re gonna be like, they’re gonna be like, expressing whatever the will of the people is. But I think there’s still some civility and courtesy and like, I human treatment needed.
Jessica: Have you or anybody that you personally know been affected by ICE raids personally?
Mr. Macasero: Haven’t I haven’t heard anything or seen anything, I mean, like in my immediate circle, so not that, Not off the top. I know a lot of families and friends under that program, but I think maybe they know the terms of theirs, or maybe they’ve been not as active, like socially, you know, just to try to avoid areas or points where ice is, I also have not seen like the way I’ve seen it, so my vantage point is really limited in that sense.
Jessica: Do you think that because here in the Bay Area, we don’t really interact with ice, brutality or anything like that, do you think it like makes us ignorant in some way, or like, not empathetic?
Mr. Macasero: I feel like there’s truth to that. I have a sense or sometimes like I feel like I’m the one having to reach out and kind of keep track of the news, as opposed to what’s your sort of like we’re all human. We have all our daily lives. If that’s not front of mind, then we can kind of not be concerned about it. But, yeah, all my vantage point is just from, you know, the news, podcasts, videos, and at this point, where’s the decorum, where’s the treatment, where’s the courtesy, where’s the where’s the lawfulness. All I can do, I can I can’t, I can do. I can I can’t think of it. What would be an effective way? I know this morning, I just saw mayor of that city. That shooting happened. It was some lawmaker in Minnesota, those they government into the state government, and so hopefully that could get settled. I don’t know if that people in power are using channels that they know to kind of get some solution.
Jessica: Do you think the California government will protect its civilians against ice?
Mr. Macasero: I believe so. I believe so. I’m fairly confident senator has kind of the kind of, I believe it was Padilla. I believe, right, like, I think he was trying to speak up in a conference with Christina when he had to be pulled out, I know during the the recently, I believe the state government, did they win that lawsuit. It had to do with the protests in LA over the summer, and then Trump sent, President Trump sent the National Guard troops to pick it up. And I believe our state government sued the federal government for doing that, and I don’t remember what the resolution was, but I mean, those actions are kind of making me think that they would fight back, or even like the whole Governor Newsom spearheaded, was it Prop 50 or something, to fight back against all those political games that Trump administration. So I feel like our state government does at least support or will fight.
Jessica: I see, okay.
Mr. Macasero: Sorry, that was too long.
Jessica: No, that was perfect.