News reports keep surfacing: ICE detains and deports American citizens. Families are ripped apart. Blue states, once assumed to be “safe,” find themselves raided and surveilled with no warning, no recourse, and often no accountability. The pattern is chilling—and it’s one with deep roots in history.
For anyone who’s read The Unmaking of America, the connection is hard to ignore.
State Power, Fear, and the Disappearance of Rights
The word “Gestapo” isn’t thrown around lightly. It’s a reference to a regime that used bureaucratic terror, secret lists, and state violence to silence and disappear “undesirable” populations. When we see federal agents acting with unchecked authority—detaining people without due process, deporting even citizens, targeting those who don’t fit the narrative of belonging—should we be surprised that the comparison arises?
Today’s ICE operates with a sweeping mandate and little oversight. Reports confirm not just the deportation of undocumented immigrants, but the detention of lawful residents and even U.S. citizens—sometimes for weeks, with little hope of redress. Blue states haven’t stopped it; in some cases, local law enforcement collaborates or turns a blind eye.
The Human Response: Leave Before You’re Taken
The Unmaking of America draws this logic to its breaking point. In the book, as fear and uncertainty escalate, immigrant communities make a collective, heartbreaking decision: don’t wait to be taken. Just leave. The result is not a “safer” America, but a fractured one—empty neighborhoods, shuttered businesses, collapsing services, and a national psyche haunted by what it chose to become.
As the novel’s characters witness, there’s no catharsis or triumph in this exodus. There’s only loss—of labor, of neighbors, of humanity itself. The communities left behind begin to understand that the people they were taught to fear or scapegoat were actually essential to the life of the country.
No One Is Immune
Blue states, in both reality and fiction, are not spared. The machinery of deportation is portable; federal power does not respect city limits or state borders. In the book, even sanctuary cities can’t stop the tide once the decision to purge—and the willingness to look away—takes hold.
Today, sanctuary policies are under attack. ICE agents circumvent local laws, conduct raids in courthouses and schools, and exploit data-sharing loopholes. The message is clear: no place is truly safe when the system is designed to make examples, not exceptions.
The Moral Cost
What happens when the people who hold up the economy and culture decide to walk away before they’re forced out? The book shows the answer: economic collapse, empty classrooms, overburdened hospitals, and a spiritual wound that cannot be healed by “tough” policies or patriotic slogans.
The comparison to the Gestapo is not meant to sensationalize, but to warn. History is full of moments when ordinary people convinced themselves that abuses were isolated, justified, or someone else’s problem—until the damage was irreversible.
Conclusion
America’s identity—past, present, and future—is being shaped right now, in the shadows of detention centers and at the edges of quiet departures. The Unmaking of America asks: What if the real turning point is not in a headline, but in the moment when your neighbors decide it’s safer to leave than to stay? What will be left behind, and who will be left to care?
If this resonates, share your story or join the conversation at North River Publications. For more, get a free chapter of The Unmaking of America and see how fiction and reality converge.
Recent Article About Raids in the US
The following articles detail ICE profiling and detention practices in the US today.
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Axios: ICE accused of racial profiling in detentions of Latino U.S. citizens
Recent reporting documents how ICE has wrongly detained American citizens, disproportionately targeting Latino communities. -
AP News: Federal judge orders halt to indiscriminate ICE arrests in California
Details on a court order restricting ICE’s broad enforcement practices and requiring legal access for detainees. -
MyJournalCourier (Opinion): A nation of immigrants under attack
Analysis and personal stories illustrating ICE’s wrongful detentions and the human cost of quota-driven enforcement.
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Curious about the inspiration behind The Unmaking of America or want to follow the latest news and insights from J.T. Mercer? Dive deeper and stay connected through the links below:
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About the Author
Discover more about J.T. Mercer’s background, writing journey, and the real-world events that inspired The Unmaking of America. Learn what drives the storytelling and how this trilogy came to life. -
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