After the mailboxes of small Pacific Northwest towns were hit by some immigration hate this month, the pushback to it was marked by both humanity and hopefulness.
But also, by some wishful thinking — that this incident isn’t who we really are.
It started when the mayor of Toledo, Ore., population 3,500, got an unsigned letter titled “The Brown Roundup, Part I.” When he read it out loud to a City Council meeting last week, it became apparent that other residents and officials up and down the Oregon coast had gotten the same letter.
“Starting the last part of January 2025, this nation will commence the largest roundup of brown illegals in our history,” the letter began.
It went on to urge people to begin staking out churches, worksites and stores like the nearby Walmart, where “if you see brown folks — record the plate #.” Then report it starting next month to the Department of Homeland Security.
Toledo Mayor Rod Cross said he was so livid at the idea of surveilling “brown” people that he wanted to give the anonymous note a public airing.
“One thing I’ve always firmly believed in, is that darkness can’t stand the light,” he said at the City Council meeting. “I want a spotlight shown on this whole idea that people don’t belong in the greatest immigrant country in the world.”
It was a powerful moment, attracting national attention. Other locals denounced the letter, and then state and federal officials weighed in, too.
The timing is awkward for the town. Next year is coincidentally the 100-year anniversary of what they call “The Toledo Incident,” when a mob of 50 men broke into homes to drive a few dozen Asian immigrants out of town by force.
“They rounded up a bunch of people and put ‘em on trains,” recounted City Councilmember Stu Strom. “My spouse’s great-grandfather, it took him years to live that down. I would never want to see that happen again here, ever.”
Added Cross, the mayor, holding up the letter: “This is not America. This is not who we are.”
As I said up top, it’s heartening these folks are taking a stand. I hope we see more like it in 2025.
It raises a couple of nagging questions, though. One is: Are the contents of that letter really not who we are?
We just held a presidential election in which one candidate promised pretty much what the letter is talking about — the biggest roundup of migrants in the nation’s history, with no one “off the table.” The candidate demonized many of these migrants in racist terms, saying they are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
That same candidate also broadcast vile smears that some immigrants from Haiti were eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. After he said that, during a nationally televised debate, the comments were thoroughly debunked and denounced, including by members of his own political party. Yet his poll numbers rose.
I’ve been grappling with the meaning of this ever since, in part because I’m originally from Springfield. In decades of covering political campaigns, that was the most hateful lie I’ve ever seen, as it punched down to exploit highly vulnerable people who had done nothing wrong. It led to dozens of bomb threat evacuations. But it worked. The candidate won. Not in spite of the smear, but in some part because of it.
Sorry, but that’s America, too. The mayor of Toledo, Ore., deserves praise, not critique, so I feel bad about saying it. But the brown roundup letter, the poisoning the blood comment, the eating dogs and cats lie — it’s all of a piece. It’s a big uncomfortable part of who we are.
The second question is: How far are they going to go with it?
The incoming administration has said mass deportations is its first order of business. But in characteristic braggadocio style, the details have been left vague or unspecified.
Will there really be full-scale roundups of an estimated 15 million migrants? Many of whom have been here for decades, or are part of families with U.S. citizen relatives?
Recent polling suggests Americans do support cracking down on immigration. This support though comes with some heavy caveats.
For example, 66% want the government to focus on deporting those who committed violent crimes or who have final orders of removal, according to a recent poll for the National Immigration Forum. It’s a minority of 34%, this poll found, who want the mass deportation of “all individuals without legal status, including those who have otherwise followed laws or who have U.S. citizen family members.”
The irony is that the outgoing administration has a deportation operation that looks a lot like what people say they want. It’s focused on serious crimes, national security threats and people caught crossing a border. Following these priorities, in 2024 the U.S. still deported the most people in 10 years.
I salute the good people of Toledo for framing the question. Are we headed back a hundred years to a repeat of the Toledo Incident of 1925, in towns big and small?
Who are we really, America? Have a happy and restful holiday week, as it’s likely to be a rocky start to 2025 as we find out the answer.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.
