Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, an 18-year-old high school senior, was walking his family’s dog in Van Nuys when he was kidnapped and taken into custody by ICE. The masked Gestapo agents tied his dog to a tree and then unclipped his collar, allowing the family pet to run loose. Benjamin is being held in a cramped holding cell with about 50 others, without access to basic hygiene or adequate food.

You would expect the dateline of this news story to be Tehran, Moscow or another city in a totalitarian regime, and not a city in a country that is supposed to be a democracy. But in Trump’s fascist regime these horrific scenes have become an everyday occurrence.

Trump promised to deport cartel members, sex traffickers, and hardened criminals, but ICE quickly ran out of criminals to deport, and to meet their bloated quotas they are kidnapping and deporting landscapers, construction workers, nannies, and even school children who haven’t committed any crimes.

What was Benjamin’s terrible crime that brought him to the attention of ICE? Allegedly he overstayed his visa.

When I walk my dog, I feel comfortable and at ease and I smile at my neighbors as they greet my pooch. My daily walks provide an opportunity to bond with Princess, interact with neighbors, and engage in physical activity. As a senior citizen, I would be mortified if ICE agents arrested me and released my pet that I regard as a member of my family.

I cannot begin to imagine the trauma that Benjamin is experiencing, his life has been turned upside down, not by common criminals, but by government agents acting like thugs.

Here is the link to a GoFundMe page set up to help Benjamin and his family. Please donate to this worthy cause, thereby demonstrating that there are more of us who cherish our democracy than there are fascist monsters:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-a-family-in-crisis-after-ice-detention