Today in Trump's Vile Nativist Agenda

[Content Note: Nativism; abuse.]

1. Hamed Aleaziz at BuzzFeed: An ICE Official Who Said Detention Was "More Like Summer Camp" Will Now Lead the Agency.

The Trump administration has tapped Matthew Albence to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the sudden resignation of its former leader.

Albence, a career official and former ally of former ICE acting director Thomas Homan, has risen quickly under the administration and is seen as an official with the type of hardline approach that President Donald Trump may appreciate.

...A former senior ICE official said of Albence: "He's definitely enforcement minded and has long been working on making [deportation officers] more efficient and more effective at enforcing the immigration laws in the interior. It's hard to imagine what's tougher than what Nielsen and Vitiello were doing, but assuming there is such a thing, Matt is certainly up to the task."

2. Rachael Bade and Nick Miroff at the Washington Post: White House Proposed Releasing Immigrant Detainees in Sanctuary Cities, Targeting Political Foes.

White House officials have tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of "sanctuary cities" to retaliate against [Donald] Trump's political adversaries, according to Department of Homeland Security officials and email messages reviewed by The Washington Post.

Trump administration officials have proposed transporting detained immigrants to sanctuary cities at least twice in the past six months — once in November, as a migrant caravan approached the U.S. southern border, and again in February, amid a standoff with Democrats over funding for Trump's border wall.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district in San Francisco was among those the White House wanted to target, according to DHS officials. The administration also considered releasing detainees in other Democratic strongholds.

..."The extent of this administration's cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated," said Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne. "Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable."

3. Staff at World Press Photo: Getty Photographer John Moore Awarded World Press Photo of the Year for His Image "Crying Girl on the Border." "Honduran toddler Yanela Sanchez cries as she and her mother, Sandra Sanchez, are taken into custody by US border officials in McAllen, Texas, USA, on 12 June 2018. ...After this picture was published worldwide, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that Yanela and her mother had not been among the thousands who had been separated by U.S. officials. Nevertheless, public outcry over the controversial practice resulted in [Donald] Trump reversing the policy on 20 June." Which he now wants to reverse back.

I am incandescently angry about this regime's treatment of immigrants, migrants, and asylum-seeking refugees. I am angry, I am sad, and I am scared.

What is abundantly clear is that Trump is not going to halt his heinously cruel war on immigrants on his own. To the absolute contrary, he and his deplorable minions, led by the odious Stephen Miller, will continue to escalate their nativist attacks unless they are forcibly removed from power.

And Senate Republicans remain disinclined to do that.

So the Trump Regime will continue in this direction, increasingly toxic, increasingly dangerous, and will destroy the country to do it.