Hate crimes: What Trump sows, Colorado reaps

Hate crimes in Colorado double. What Trump sows, Colorado reaps. Donald Trump has a long history of exploitation of racism to gain political power, as the father of birtherism and proposing and in executing extreme anti-immigration policies, and in rally chants.  In doing that, he has sowed the seeds of an increase in hate crimes, even in a state like Colorado.  Colorado is one of the least likely states to experience an increase in hate crimes,  with its strong economy and a relatively tolerant citizenry. Per the state's homeland Security and Emergency Management Division, hate crimes doubled in 2018 over the prior year after declining in 2016 and 2017.  In 2018, 185 hate crimes were reported, as compared to 96 in 2017.  The offenses are mostly intimidation, followed by assault and vandalism. Victims of racial violence were by far the largest numbers, followed by gender bias and a rise in anti-Semitic crimes.  Something is causing the mentally unbalanced or those consumed by hate and anger to act out.

Why pin this on Trump? What has changed recently that may account for this increase in Colorado?  We cannot blame economic stress since Colorado has the best economy in the US nor can we cite a change in public sentiment or state leadership or local demagogues gaining prominence.  In fact, our current elected political leadership, from the Statehouse to our Congressional delegation are themselves more diverse, racially, religious affiliated, and gender identified than ever before. Something else is going on.

The chief suspect  of inspiring the acts of violence is the permission slip given by a president who winks, nods, and exhorts  racial and religious intolerance of brown immigrants, and "others" , while welcoming immigrants from Norway and white Europe instead of from  'sh..holes countries, and slamming the door shut on them and others..  He sometimes uses cruelty against migrants and their children at the border, depriving them of bare essentials and proposes putting them in indefinite confinement run by private enterprises benefitting from profitable prison vendor contracts. When some of this can be owed to incompetent administration, Trump then covers his mess-ups with claims it was his intended policy to send some signal to wannabe migrants they face pain and suffering if they dare cross the border.   His policies of separation of families and "losing" track of their children had alternatives. It was not a choice between open borders and mass incarceration and cruelty to migrants as he paints it.  He could have put the border wall money into more immigration judges to sort legitimate asylum seekers from others and he could have enhanced the use of modern technology coupled with the portion of border wall funding,  authored  by Congress as bi-partisan  backed legislation, or he could have increased the aid to the central American countries hurting from poverty, crime and gang warfare instead of cutting aid off as punishment.  To pay for more immigrant ICE detention centers and judges to edict migrants to remain in Mexico, he is putting in jeopardy the well-being of US citizens by diverting  $271 million of emergency management funds that were meant to cover disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires. Timing for this weakening of FEMA is particularly unfortunate since it is as a hurricane takes aim at Florida as a major hurricane,  the Atlantic hurricane season starts, and the  Colorado dry fall wildfire season begins.
All of this action is to make good on his promises to keep those brown people out of this country and save us from murderers and rapists.  Most studies, data, and statistics indicate undocumented migrants and immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than those in the US.  Donald Trump's hate-fueling utterances and public policies have made us in Colorado even more fearful and less safe.

https://www.cpr.org/2019/08/07/hate-crimes-in-colorado-nearly-doubled-from-2017-to-2018-hitting-a-5-year-high/

https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fema-funds-to-ice-trump-administration-disaster-aid-money-to-migrant-detention-centers-dorian-approaches-puerto-rico/

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/white-evangelicals-love-trump-aren-t-confused-about-why-no-ncna1046826?fbclid=IwAR0tcSXMRljOG