Citizenship is not only about the official status granted by the State. It is also the feeling the member of that society or nation or colony or “reservation” or prison have when interacting with the rest of society: at the market, train, bus, when dealing with bureaucrats, and, when seeing how one is being discussed or portrayed at the media. Some of us begin very early to have what can be called the sense of entitlement as a citizen. Some of us do not: an adolescent or child or adult who hears or reads or is treated or portrayed in manners that are derogatory because of the color of the skin, sexual orientation, particular social class, linguistic characteristics does not necessarily, grow with a strong sense of citizenship. There are times when those members of a group that are not treated like full citizens begin to react, either by demanding for his/her rights and some form of education to change society’s values and policies or accepting his/her second class position and treatment and go with the flow or, worse, trying to look like those who are treated like citizens with all the respect that conditions deserves.
At these present moments the USA government is taking passport away from particular members of the nation simply because they are “Latinos” (see link below), without ever going to court to demonstrate that they are citizens or not. Right now, the State is creating the climate to let the Latinos know that they are not full class citizens.
“The Trump administration is vastly expanding the scope of its illegitimate hold on power. ICE is a private army, accountable to nobody but trump. Soon they will be able to take anybody's passport, for any reason. And if the U.S. is your only home so they can't deport you, what will they do with you? Just so happens there's plenty of vacant warehouse space and a ton of money to be made off private prisons.”
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