Rachel Maddow Says Trump Admin Moving in the Shadows Is Scarier Than Earlier Term Violence

Rachel Maddow cautioned that the Trump administration's secretive immigration policies pose a greater threat than their more overt attacks. On her MSNBC show, Maddow contended that the administration's covert approach may be more damaging than their previously conspicuous assaults. "They discovered, too," Maddow stated. "They understood that making a grand display of force, entering an American city almost like a military operation, would provoke resistance from that city."

She noted that her program had previously reported that when immigration directly impacts Americans, they resist quietly. Maddow cited the example of a community in rural Louisiana that opposed the Trump administration's plan to erect an immigrant detention center there. "The quieter they keep it, they believe the less resistance they encounter, and they're likely correct," Maddow remarked.

"But when the American people discover what's happening, they resist." Symone Sanders-Townsend, a podcast co-host, countered that "quiet" does not signify "small" or "harmless." She referenced a New York Times report stating that ICE conducted over 43,000 arrests in June, more than 49,000 in July, and nearly 51,000 in August. Despite the administration's efforts to ramp up immigration raids, Maddow stated that Americans will soon realize the administration's pledge that life would improve following the removal of immigrants proved to be a falsehood they could not fulfill.

"They told us a white supremacist fantasy…and said everything would get better for everyone," Maddow said. "Everything's getting worse."