By Janet Kira Lessin
When Did America Become So Cruel?
By Janet Kira Lessin
As I watch the headlines roll in like waves of sadness, I ask myself: When did America become so cruel?
Not just indifferent. Not just hard-hearted. But deliberately, devastatingly cruel.
Yes, I understand the legal argument.
Yes, I understand that people who enter this country without following “the proper process” are technically violating immigration law.
But my question is not what is legal.
My question is:
Is it kind?
Is it kind to tear people from homes they’ve built over decades, to deport workers and parents and dreamers who have done nothing but labor in the shadows to prop up our economy, quietly, thanklessly, and with the dignity of the desperate?
Let’s be real:
America needs immigrants.
They do the jobs that the average American won’t touch anymore:
- Picking crops under the blazing sun
- Processing chickens and meat in frigid, dangerous warehouses
- Cleaning hotel rooms and scrubbing toilets
- Washing dishes in restaurants and bussing tables
- Building houses, laying roofing, and digging trenches
- Taking care of our elders in nursing homes
- Watching our children while we go to work
- Delivering food, landscaping lawns, driving trucks, and repairing roads
This invisible workforce makes your grocery store function, keeps your local diner open, and allows your Amazon delivery to arrive on time. They’re behind the scenes, holding up the scaffolding of daily American life — and we pretend they don’t exist until we’re told to fear or discard them.
And now, we are told — not just by law, but by ideology — to treat them like criminals.
The Price of Cruelty
Let me spell out the consequences of this growing inhumanity:
- Deporting immigrants will lead to massive labor shortages.
- Tariffs on imported goods (especially from Mexico and China) will increase prices.
- The working class — the very people who thought Trump was going to fix “the price of eggs” — will find themselves paying more for everything.
- Supply chains will collapse. Shelves will be empty. Amazon delivery will slow to a crawl.
- The economy will break again.
This isn’t policy.
It’s not patriotism.
It’s cruelty disguised as nationalism, and it’s tearing our country apart.
Remember Ellis Island?
My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island. Yours probably did too.
They came here fleeing something terrible—poverty, war, famine, religious persecution—or chasing something beautiful—the dream of a better life.
They came with hope.
And they helped build America.
Now we slam the door behind us and pretend the ones coming next are parasites or criminals.
When Cruelty Becomes Culture
Let’s be honest: this isn’t just about “illegals” or border walls or national security.
This is about a deeper sickness that has been festering in America — a cruel, proud, bigoted worldview that sees anyone different as a threat. And it’s not just targeting immigrants. It’s targeting LGBTQ+ people. It’s targeting women’s rights. It’s targeting teachers, journalists, scientists, environmentalists, and anyone who dares to speak with nuance or compassion.
It’s a worldview that exalts punishment over mercy, dominance over empathy, and retribution over reconciliation.
And it’s being sold to the American people as “toughness.”
But cruelty is not strength.
Cruelty is a weakness that has forgotten how to feel.
What Kind of Nation Do We Want to Be?
This isn’t about left or right.
It’s about what kind of soul America has left.
We cannot solve our labor crisis by deporting those who labor.
We cannot rebuild our economy by destroying the hands that build it.
And we cannot claim to be a great nation while we stomp on the people who make that greatness possible.
Final Thought
I believe in a better America.
One that remembers where we came from.
One that values compassion as much as commerce.
One who believes kindness is strength.
Because if we lose that…
We may still have borders.
But we’ll have no heart left inside them.
Keywords / Tags:
#ImmigrationCrisis #AmericanCruelty #EllisIslandLegacy #SupplyChainCollapse #WorkerRights #HumanityFirst #TariffBacklash #AwakenAmerica
Call to Action:
If this moved you, please share it. Speak up. Ask the hard questions.
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As I watch the headlines roll in like waves of sadness, I ask myself: When did America become so cruel?
Not just indifferent. Not just hard-hearted. But deliberately, devastatingly cruel.
Yes, I understand the legal argument.
Yes, I understand that people who enter this country without following “the proper process” are technically violating immigration law.
But my question is not what is legal.
My question is:
Is it kind?
Is it kind to tear people from homes they’ve built over decades, to deport workers and parents and dreamers who have done nothing but labor in the shadows to prop up our economy, quietly, thanklessly, and with the dignity of the desperate?
Let’s be real:
America needs immigrants.
They do the jobs that the average American won’t touch anymore:
- Picking crops under the blazing sun
- Processing chickens and meat in frigid, dangerous warehouses
- Cleaning hotel rooms and scrubbing toilets
- Washing dishes in restaurants and bussing tables
- Building houses, laying roofing, and digging trenches
- Taking care of our elders in nursing homes
- Watching our children while we go to work
- Delivering food, landscaping lawns, driving trucks, and repairing roads
This invisible workforce makes your grocery store function, keeps your local diner open, and allows your Amazon delivery to arrive on time. They’re behind the scenes, holding up the scaffolding of daily American life — and we pretend they don’t exist until we’re told to fear or discard them.
And now, we are told — not just by law, but by ideology — to treat them like criminals.
The Price of Cruelty
Let me spell out the consequences of this growing inhumanity:
- Deporting immigrants will lead to massive labor shortages.
- Tariffs on imported goods (especially from Mexico and China) will increase prices.
- The working class — the very people who thought Trump was going to fix “the price of eggs” — will find themselves paying more for everything.
- Supply chains will collapse. Shelves will be empty. Amazon delivery will slow to a crawl.
- The economy will break again.
This isn’t policy.
It’s not patriotism.
It’s cruelty disguised as nationalism, and it’s tearing our country apart.
Remember Ellis Island?
My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island. Yours probably did too.
They came here fleeing something terrible—poverty, war, famine, religious persecution—or chasing something beautiful—the dream of a better life.
They came with hope.
And they helped build America.
Now we slam the door behind us and pretend the ones coming next are parasites or criminals.
When Cruelty Becomes Culture
Let’s be honest: this isn’t just about “illegals” or border walls or national security.
This is about a deeper sickness that has been festering in America — a cruel, proud, bigoted worldview that sees anyone different as a threat. And it’s not just targeting immigrants. It’s targeting LGBTQ+ people. It’s targeting women’s rights. It’s targeting teachers, journalists, scientists, environmentalists, and anyone who dares to speak with nuance or compassion.
It’s a worldview that exalts punishment over mercy, dominance over empathy, and retribution over reconciliation.
And it’s being sold to the American people as “toughness.”
But cruelty is not strength.
Cruelty is a weakness that has forgotten how to feel.
What Kind of Nation Do We Want to Be?
This isn’t about left or right.
It’s about what kind of soul America has left.
We cannot solve our labor crisis by deporting those who labor.
We cannot rebuild our economy by destroying the hands that build it.
And we cannot claim to be a great nation while we stomp on the people who make that greatness possible.
Final Thought
I believe in a better America.
One that remembers where we came from.
One that values compassion as much as commerce.
One who believes kindness is strength.
Because if we lose that…
We may still have borders.
But we’ll have no heart left inside them.
