Behind the Bastards

It Could Happen Here Weekly 204

October 18, 2025

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  • Indigenous Peoples Day serves to acknowledge the atrocities committed by Christopher Columbus, contrasting with the historical celebration of him, and federal Indian policy is contextualized within the ongoing teleology of settler colonialism. 
  • Federal Indian Policy has historically operated as a self-justifying system, where legal frameworks like the Doctrine of Discovery and subsequent acts retroactively legitimized land cession and violence against Indigenous populations. 
  • Title 42, a public health law, was invoked by the Trump administration to expel migrants, bypassing asylum law, and this policy persisted and was expanded under the Biden administration, leading to increased migrant deaths due to dangerous crossing attempts. 
  • The implementation of Title 42 was allegedly driven by political pressure from figures like Stephen Miller and Mike Pence, rather than genuine public health concerns, as evidenced by the lack of vaccination or testing requirements. 
  • The CBP-1 app, intended to manage asylum appointments, functions as a 'Ticketmaster of asylum' that disproportionately benefits wealthier, often Russian, asylum seekers over the most vulnerable migrants due to technological barriers. 
  • Following the end of Title 42, migrants detained in open-air camps between border fences in San Ysidro and Jacumba faced severe neglect, including insufficient water, no shelter, and inadequate medical attention, often relying entirely on volunteer aid for survival. 
  • The mutual aid response in Jacumba, led by local business owners and volunteers, provided essential support to over a thousand migrants abandoned in the desert after Title 42 ended, highlighting community action in the face of government failure. 
  • The US border enforcement system, involving CBP and private contractors like Allied, is structured to profit from the broken immigration system, while migrants face high legal costs (up to $12,000) and severely backlogged court dates extending to 2027. 
  • The history of US border enforcement, dating back to the Gadsden Purchase and formalized by the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, establishes a 100-mile 'border enforcement zone' where the Fourth Amendment protections largely do not apply to residents. 
  • The enforcement strategy initiated by Operation Gatekeeper, while intended to deter crossings, resulted in a significant spike in apprehensions in other sectors and an increase in migrant deaths due to pushing migration into more dangerous terrain. 
  • The culture within the U.S. Border Patrol is deeply entrenched, characterized by self-investigation teams (SITs) that systematically cover up agent misconduct, the use of dehumanizing language, and long-rooted links to white nationalist ideologies. 
  • The militarization of the border, exemplified by surveillance technology on tribal lands and the construction of walls, directly impacts Indigenous communities like the Tohono O'odham Nation, leading to the destruction of sacred sites and violence against tribal members. 

Segments

Indigenous Peoples Day Context
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(00:03:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Indigenous Peoples Day replaces Christopher Columbus Day to recognize Indigenous history and contributions.
  • Summary: Indigenous Peoples Day is replacing Christopher Columbus Day in many jurisdictions to acknowledge the atrocities committed by Columbus. Columbus did not discover America and engaged in slavery and genocide. The day recognizes the actual first peoples of the Americas, their cultures, and contributions.
Settler Colonialism Framework
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(00:06:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Settler colonial states are defined by the deterritorialization of Indigenous populations, unlike colonial states focused on resource extraction to a metropolis.
  • Summary: Settler colonialism involves colonists staying on the land and defining sovereignty within it, necessitating genocide of Indigenous populations for this process to occur. This framework connects directly to the Doctrine of Discovery, which underpinned early European claims to American soil. The United States is characterized as an ongoing settler colonial state.
Doctrine of Discovery Explained
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(00:10:36)
  • Key Takeaway: The Doctrine of Discovery legally conveyed title of American soil to European nations based on the premise that Indigenous peoples could not utilize land according to European standards.
  • Summary: Legally, the doctrine deemed Indigenous peoples unable to govern themselves or utilize land according to European definitions of property and resource extraction. This conveyed legal title to European nations, which later devolved to the United States. It established Native nations as occupants needing a ‘benevolent guardian’ federal government.
Post-Revolutionary Federal Policy
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(00:13:38)
  • Key Takeaway: The US Constitution established federal authority over tribes via the Commerce, Treaty-making, and Property clauses, making them a domestic interest.
  • Summary: Following the Revolution, the Trade and Intercourse Act era (1789-1835) centered on Congress’s exclusive right to regulate trade and enter treaties with tribes. This placed tribes within US jurisdiction as a matter of domestic interest, shifting the relationship from European power dynamics to federal oversight. This era set the stage for ongoing contestation over tribal sovereignty.
Removal Era and Marshall Trilogy
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(00:17:45)
  • Key Takeaway: The Removal Act, authorized by Andrew Jackson, forcibly moved tribes westward based on the legal precedent defining tribes as domestic dependent nations.
  • Summary: The Removal Period (1835-1861) involved extinguishing Indian title to eastern lands, notably through the Indian Removal Act. This was legally supported by the Marshall Trilogy cases, which defined tribes as domestic dependent nations under federal oversight, though these statutes often cited the racist Doctrine of Discovery. Andrew Jackson famously ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling in Worcester v. Georgia to proceed with the Trail of Tears.
Reservation and Assimilation Era
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(00:25:49)
  • Key Takeaway: The Reservation Era (1861-1887) was marked by westward expansion, forced removal onto reservations, warfare, and the implementation of assimilation through boarding schools.
  • Summary: This era saw significant non-Indian westward expansion, leading to conflicts like the Battle of the Little Bighorn and forced relocations of tribes. Assimilation efforts included establishing bureaucratic structures on reservations designed to mimic settler colonial governments and attempting to eradicate Indigenous spiritual and cultural practices. Boarding schools were a key tool for cultural assimilation through forced education and language suppression.
Allotment and Forced Farming
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(00:29:09)
  • Key Takeaway: The Dawes Act (Allotment) forcibly divided reservation lands into individual parcels, resulting in the loss of approximately 9 million acres of tribal land to settlers.
  • Summary: The allotment process ended treaty-making and assigned acreage to individual tribal members, deeming the remaining land ’excess’ for settlers. This was framed as a ‘civilizing mission’ to turn Indigenous people into European-style farmers, an economic model that proved largely unworkable for the recipients. The failure and inherent injustice of this policy eventually led to its cessation.
Termination and Self-Determination
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(00:33:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Federal policy swung from the Termination Era, attempting to dissolve tribal governments and federal responsibility, to the Self-Determination Era, restoring some control to tribal entities.
  • Summary: The brief Indian Reorganization Act period attempted to impose template constitutions on tribes before the pendulum swung to the Termination Era, where the federal government sought to end its trust responsibility. This was followed by the Self-Determination Era (starting 1962), characterized by the revitalization of tribal entities and Nixon condemning termination. Despite these shifts, the federal government retains the potential to encroach on treaty rights.
Land Back Movement Context
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(00:40:17)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Land Back’ movement signifies a demand for recognition of tribal sovereignty and accountability for broken treaties, often manifesting as reparations or land return.
  • Summary: Land Back is interpreted as recognition that the land was Indigenous first and that treaties have not been upheld by the US government. In practice, this includes efforts like buying land back for tribes or interrupting the Euro-American narrative of property ownership. The movement seeks justice outside the ‘courts of the conqueror’ by highlighting ongoing injustices like pipeline encroachment on treaty lands.
Title 42 Application and Impact
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(00:56:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Title 42 was used to expel migrants without asylum hearings, leading to a sharp increase in border deaths as people attempted riskier crossings.
  • Summary: Title 42, a 1944 public health law, was used starting in March 2020 to expel migrants, despite CDC scientists expressing opposition to its public health rationale. This policy resulted in over three million expulsions, forcing migrants into remote areas, causing border deaths to rise from 247 in 2020 to 857 in 2022. The policy was bipartisan, persisting longer under Biden, who also deported more Haitian migrants than Trump in an early period.
Title 42 Political Origins
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(01:16:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Stephen Miller sought to use Title 42 against migration as early as 2018, predating the COVID-19 justification.
  • Summary: Vice President Mike Pence pressured CDC doctors to implement Title 42, threatening their jobs if they refused. CDC doctors knew in March 2020 that the order lacked a real public health rationale, noting exceptions for vaccinated migrants or testing were absent. Biden kept Title 42 in place and expanded it to include more nationalities than the Trump administration initially did.
CBP-1 App Failures
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(01:17:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The CBP-1 app creates a bottleneck that favors affluent migrants with better technology over the most vulnerable seeking asylum.
  • Summary: The CBP-1 app was designed to stop large optics at the border by requiring migrants to schedule appointments remotely. Migrants often lack reliable Wi-Fi and quality phones in shelters, meaning the app rewards those with the best technology. Data from Tijuana showed Russian nationals, making up only 10% of the migrant population, received nearly half of the CBP-1 appointments.
Facial Recognition Bias Concerns
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(01:20:12)
  • Key Takeaway: A data scientist noted that training facial recognition or image processing apps solely on white faces is a well-documented issue that leads to failure for other ethnic backgrounds.
  • Summary: The speaker found it difficult to believe the systemic failures of the CBP-1 app were accidental, given established knowledge in software development about training data bias. This suggests a lack of competence or willful ignorance among developers and authorities at CBP and Homeland Security. The issue highlights a known problem in tech development regarding ethnic representation in training datasets.
Legal Battle Over Title 42 End
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(01:21:25)
  • Key Takeaway: The Biden administration planned to end Title 42 after the 2022 midterms, but the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the end date due to a lawsuit from Republican-led states.
  • Summary: A court ruling theoretically made Title 42 unenforceable in November 2022, but the Supreme Court intervened in December to allow Republican-led states to continue expulsions while the case was considered. A federal judge in Louisiana prevented the administration from ending the policy, claiming inadequate termination steps were taken. Title 42 ultimately ended on May 11, 2023, with the expiration of the federal COVID-19 emergency.
New Title VIII Processing Rules
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(01:23:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Under Title VIII processing, individuals unlawfully crossing the border face immediate expedited removal and a five-year reentry bar if deemed ineligible for asylum.
  • Summary: Unlawful border crossers processed under Title VIII are presumed ineligible for asylum unless they qualify for an exception or file a defensive claim. The process to remove them begins immediately, and defensive asylum claims are argued under the threat of deportation. The Biden administration was reportedly unprepared on the ground despite having years to plan for the transition.
Lack of On-the-Ground Planning
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(01:24:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Local officials in Tijuana, less than 48 hours before Title 42 ended, did not know the exact number of migrants CBP would allow through the San Ysidro port of entry.
  • Summary: Immigration policy decisions were made in Washington D.C. without involving border personnel in logistical planning. The head of Tijuana’s migrant affairs department estimated only 200 daily entries, which would not address the bottleneck created by Title 42, where tens of thousands were waiting. DHS Secretary Mayorkas focused on large-picture announcements like processing centers in Guatemala rather than immediate logistics.
Mayorkas Pandering and Parole Release
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(01:27:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Secretary Mayorkas publicly emphasized harsh rhetoric about ineligibility and consequences to pander to Fox News while simultaneously implementing a parole release plan that lacked tracking mechanisms.
  • Summary: Under parole release, migrants did not receive alien registration numbers, meaning authorities could not track them. Migrants were instead asked to self-report to ICE within 60 days to begin proceedings. Florida’s attorney general sued, arguing this parole plan was functionally identical to a previously struck-down policy.
Detention Conditions at San Ysidro
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(01:29:18)
  • Key Takeaway: CBP housed approximately 500 detained migrants in the open air between the two border fences at San Ysidro without adequate shelter, shade, or sanitation.
  • Summary: Migrants from diverse nationalities were held with only space blankets and cardboard boxes for shelter, relying on volunteers for food and water that often could not fit through the fence gaps. Volunteers noted the lack of running water and only one portable toilet for hundreds of people, leading to unsanitary conditions. Children were observed sleeping in the dust between the walls.
Migrant Misunderstanding of Title VIII
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(01:42:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Misleading rhetoric about Title VIII penalties caused many migrants to rush to cross before Title 42 ended, fearing a five-year ban on asylum claims if caught later.
  • Summary: Colombian migrants believed crossing before the deadline was their last chance to avoid permanent consequences under Title VIII, which includes a five-year reentry bar. This fear was fueled by rhetoric emphasizing penalties for crossing between ports of entry, overshadowing the right to claim asylum at a port of entry. Many migrants, like Deanna Rodriguez, were unaware of the nuances between defensive and affirmative asylum claims.
Experiences of Colombian Migrants
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(01:46:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Colombian migrants endured dangerous journeys marked by extortion and robbery, yet also encountered unexpected kindness from strangers along the route.
  • Summary: Deanna and her friends walked for eight days from Colombia through Central America to reach the border, facing robbery where documents were stolen. They emphasized that while they encountered bad people, they also met good people who offered unexpected help. Their primary hope upon arrival was to have their case heard inside the US to explain the danger they fled, including extortion and kidnapping.
Conditions in Jacumba Desert Camp
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(02:00:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Over a thousand migrants were held by CBP in the Jacumba desert with insufficient water, no shelter, and no sanitation, relying entirely on local volunteers for survival.
  • Summary: The Jacumba area was chosen for crossing because the border wall had gaps, but the environment presented scorching days and cold nights, leading to severe exposure. A UCSD report indicated 100% of interviewed asylum seekers reported inadequate sanitation and shelter from CBP, and two-thirds agreed they would not survive without volunteer aid. Volunteers noted the profound emotional impact of seeing basic necessities like diapers and sanitary napkins being distributed.
Medical Emergencies and Neglect
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(02:14:26)
  • Key Takeaway: CBP was slow to respond to life-threatening medical emergencies in detention camps, often only acting when advocates insisted, leading to severe outcomes.
  • Summary: A lawsuit detailed cases including life-threatening allergies, an epileptic seizure, and an unattended leg infection, all requiring advocate intervention for slow or insufficient medical attention. In one instance, a woman with severe burns and infection was sent back to the camp by a hospital in the middle of the night without documentation. The single portable toilet for hundreds of people in San Ysidro was serviced infrequently, creating a vile and unsanitary environment.
Tragic Death in Texas Custody
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(02:19:43)
  • Key Takeaway: An eight-year-old Panamanian girl with congenital heart disease and sickle cell anemia died in Texas CBP custody after her parents’ pleas for an ambulance were ignored.
  • Summary: The girl’s parents reported her worsening pain and shortness of breath multiple times to detention and medical staff, but were told her condition was not serious enough for an ambulance. The girl reportedly lost consciousness and died in her mother’s arms at the station. The parents felt authorities did not do enough to care for their daughter, who was a human being.
Defensive Asylum Claims Under Title VIII
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(02:21:20)
  • Key Takeaway: Migrants crossing between ports of entry are now forced into the defensive asylum process, requiring them to argue why they should not be deported rather than affirmatively claiming a right to stay.
  • Summary: If determined to have a credible fear, migrants are told to check in with USCIS and may receive a dated or undated court notice. Those detained in camps often lacked documentation proving they presented at a port of entry, complicating their claims. Strict hotel rules confined migrants, preventing them from easily reaching sponsors or navigating the necessary check-in procedures.
Migrant Processing and Hotel Rules
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(02:22:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Asylum seekers face strict confinement in Catholic Charities-hosted hotels, including no visitors or food delivery, before being potentially sent anywhere in the US if they lack a sponsor.
  • Summary: Migrants determined to have a credible fear are told to check in with US Customs and Immigration Office and may receive an undated court notice. If they lack a US sponsor, they can be relocated far from the border, such as East African migrants ending up in Alaska. Upon arrival at their destination, they must check in with USCIS, may have DNA taken, and are given a tracking phone.
The Business of Border Enforcement
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(02:24:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Private security contractors like Allied, who transport and guard migrants, profit immensely from the broken immigration system, with Allied being the third-largest private employer in North America.
  • Summary: Allied guards are paid low wages (around $19/hour), yet the company grosses over $20 billion and frequently makes political donations. The system financially benefits numerous entities, including security contractors, wall builders, and surveillance technology sellers, while migrants bear the cost.
Jacumba Mutual Aid Mobilization
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(02:29:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The small town of Jacumba mobilized rapidly via social media, organizing a massive mutual aid effort to support 1,500 people left in the desert after Border Patrol made no plans for their housing post-Title 42.
  • Summary: Volunteers, including hotel owners, students, and locals, gathered supplies like water and sunscreen at an old petrol station to assist migrants who were radically unprepared for the harsh high desert environment. The hotel owners, restoring a local property, inadvertently created a de facto mutual aid hub by feeding over a thousand people.
Volunteer Experiences and Impact
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(02:32:03)
  • Key Takeaway: Volunteers found the direct, immediate impact of their actions—like providing food and supplies—to be an empowering antidote to feeling overwhelmed by global suffering.
  • Summary: Volunteers like Marissa and Natalie were deeply moved by the organization of the local effort and the tangible results of their work, contrasting sharply with the absence of large NGOs like the Red Cross, which required Border Patrol authorization to assist. The experience reinforced the belief that collective, solution-oriented community action can prevent immediate loss of life.
Phone Charging Chaos and Aid Distribution
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(02:48:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Aid distribution at the border wall was chaotic, with phone charging being an overwhelming necessity, requiring volunteers to implement ad-hoc systems like taping names onto devices to prevent loss.
  • Summary: Mutual aid groups organized supplies like toiletries, food, and toys, passing them through gaps in the wall to detained migrants. The demand for charging phones for CBP1 use and family contact was constant, leading volunteers to manage hundreds of devices using generators and tape labels to track ownership.
Empathy Rooted in Immigrant History
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(02:53:55)
  • Key Takeaway: Volunteers with immigrant backgrounds, such as Lon Chai, felt a deep personal obligation to help refugees, recognizing that aid provided to their own families historically enabled their current lives in the US.
  • Summary: Lon Chai, a first-generation Cambodian American, emphasized that someone provided support to his family when they fled, necessitating reciprocal action now. He argued that all non-indigenous families have a history of migration, suggesting universal empathy should compel people to donate time or supplies.
Political Opposition and Cruelty Witnessed
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(02:58:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Volunteers encountered vocal anti-migrant opposition, while staff from Senator Steve Padilla’s office provided crucial political leverage to monitor migrant processing centers where detainees were reportedly placed in cages.
  • Summary: One volunteer was confronted by a man espousing anti-immigrant talking points, but the presence of Padilla’s staff member allowed volunteers to challenge Border Patrol and monitor the transfer of migrants to facilities where they were allegedly caged. The staffer actively worked to ensure migrants were followed through the process to monitor their care.
Historical Context of Border Enforcement
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(03:17:54)
  • Key Takeaway: US border enforcement has a long history rooted in colonization and land acquisition, culminating in the establishment of a 100-mile zone where constitutional rights are curtailed.
  • Summary: The border’s history includes the Gadsden Purchase and the Chinese Exclusion Act, leading to the Border Patrol’s creation in 1924. The 1952 Act established a border enforcement zone where the Fourth Amendment is suspended, affecting two-thirds of the US population.
Operation Gatekeeper’s Deadly Legacy
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(03:26:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Operation Gatekeeper, initiated in 1994, intentionally pushed migration into harsh wilderness areas, leading to a documented spike in migrant deaths despite claims of success in San Diego.
  • Summary: Former Border Patrol agent Jen Budd confirmed that pushing traffic into mountains was intentional, with management accepting migrant injuries and deaths as a deterrent. While San Diego apprehensions dropped, Tucson sector apprehensions spiked 591% between 1992 and 2004, increasing the average annual migrant death toll significantly.
Gatekeeper Strategy Consequences
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(03:30:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Operation Gatekeeper’s success in San Diego led to a 591% apprehension spike in the Tucson sector and increased migrant deaths due to enforcement shifting migration patterns.
  • Summary: The implementation of Operation Gatekeeper under President Clinton was lauded as a bipartisan success, but it inadvertently pushed migration routes into harsher environments. Apprehensions rose dramatically in the Tucson sector between 1992 and 2004, and migrant deaths doubled from the early 1990s average to 472 deaths in 2005. Many of these deaths occurred in the desert areas encompassing the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
Militarization of Tohono O’odham Land
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(03:31:11)
  • Key Takeaway: The Tohono O’odham Nation faces increasing militarization, including surveillance towers built by Israeli company Elbit Systems, despite tribal opposition to the occupation of their homeland.
  • Summary: Increased Border Patrol presence following 9/11 involved vehicle barriers and a ‘virtual wall’ of surveillance technology on the reservation. The Israeli company Elbit Systems installed fixed surveillance towers on tribal land, a technology pioneered in the West Bank. Tribal leaders strongly opposed this militarization, stating there is no word for ‘war’ in their language, though the Trump administration later forced through a wall on tribal land via the Roosevelt Reservation designation.
Border Patrol Agent Misconduct and Cover-ups
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(03:33:38)
  • Key Takeaway: Border Patrol agents have a history of violence against tribal members, and internal investigations by Critical Incident Teams (CITs) function as a cover-up mechanism that protects agents.
  • Summary: Members of the Tohono O’odham Nation have experienced physical assault, including being pepper-sprayed, beaten, and shot by Border Patrol, with one teenager killed by an agent in 2002. CITs investigate fatal incidents, but former agents reveal these teams manipulate scenes, coach witnesses, and ensure agents are framed as victims, allowing them to use lethal force. Although ordered to disband in 2021, these teams reportedly continued operations under different names within CBP OPR.
White Nationalism and Border Culture
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(03:37:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Border Patrol has long-rooted links to white nationalism, evidenced by historical KKK involvement and contemporary derogatory language used by agents against migrants.
  • Summary: David Duke announced the start of Klan Border Watch in 1977, coordinating with Border Patrol via CB radio to report illegal crossings. Later, KKK leader Louis Beam ran paramilitary camps training youth in guerrilla warfare tactics. Former agents confirm that racist language was common, and post-9/11 training shifted vocabulary to terms like ‘invaders’ for migrants and asylum seekers.
Demonization and Surveillance of Migrants
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(03:48:47)
  • Key Takeaway: The demonization of migrant caravans, amplified by conservative media using terms like ‘invasion,’ justified government overreach, including the creation of a DHS database to flag activists and journalists.
  • Summary: The 2018 migrant caravan was widely labeled an ‘invasion’ by figures like Donald Trump and Fox News, despite evidence to the contrary, leading Trump to deploy troops. Following this, Operation Secure Line created a DHS database tracking activists and journalists involved in caravan support, subjecting them to intense secondary screenings at the border. This surveillance and demonization echo historical patterns, including the Spanish Civil War slogan: ‘If you tolerate this, then your children will be next.’