Do You Look American?

Years ago, I spent several days in DC with my spouse, who was there for some meetings. This gave me a chance to play tourist and visit my law school housemate, Pat. From there, I was going to Toronto on a work assignment. I’d never been to Canada and was looking forward to the trip.

Although I had a passport, I had not brought it with me. This was before 9/11, when airport security looked nothing like what we have today.

Pat, who had grown up in Buffalo, reassured me that getting in and out of Canada was a breeze: “You don't need a passport, just show your driver’s license.”

The same was true of going into Mexico when we visited our relatives who lived in South Texas border towns; we often went "al otro lado," to enjoy lunch or dinner at a restaurant and to buy groceries, which were much cheaper at the mercados of Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Aleman, and Matamoros.

But back to my concern about traveling to Canada. I decided to call the airline.

“Hello, I have a flight to Toronto, can I travel to and from Canada with just my California Driver’s License?”

“That should be fine, assuming you look like an American.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, do you look American?”

“Excuse me? The United States has many kinds of people, brown, black, native, tall, short. And who exactly decides whether someone looks American?”

“Since you aren’t sure,” she responded, “I suggest you carry your American Passport.”

Jaw-dropping.

When I look in the mirror, I see an American, whether someone else sees me that way . . . can’t say. I did not take that chance. So, a friend went to our home and sent the passport by overnight mail.  

Masked law enforcement: Homeland Security, ICE, other agencies, who can tell?

Given the goal of Stephen Miller and the Trump Regime to arrest a minimum of 3000 persons each day, we know that racial profiling plays a massive role in who they target and those they arrest. There are plenty of reported cases of U.S. citizens (almost all of them dark-skinned Latinos) picked up by ICE and kept in detention for hours and days or even sent out of the country.

Now, when I go to protests, I carry my US passport. Who knows when some masked law enforcers might nab me off the streets? Many Latinos report being scared. Being brown puts a target on our backs. It's a fact, and already there are several court rulings finding racial profiling and racism at the root of the government's actions. Take these opening lines from US District Judge Trina Thompson on a case involving the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of people from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

"The freedom to live fearlessly, the opportunity of liberty, and the American dream. That is all Plaintiffs seek. Instead, they are told to atone for their race, leave because of their names, and purify their blood. The Court disagrees."

Wow, even on those days I feel discouraged, I am reminded that so many people, everyday folks like you and me, are standing against the fascist moves of the Trump Regime, and many courts are ruling that the government's actions are unlawful. Although there are varying estimates (who can keep up with all the cases, motions, and preliminary injunctions currently in place), the government's LOSS rate for cases is between the high 70s to 90%. True, the Supreme Court majority appears to be in Trump's pocket, but only a handful of cases reach the Supreme Court. And in many instances, the government follows the orders of the court, although we typically only hear about their obstruction and defiance.

As some of you who read my newsletter may recall, I have been working on a new play, Class Migrant: de Aquí y de Allá, about class prejudice and socio-economic mobility (and lack thereof). As inequality has accelerated, it has led to disaffection and unrest, and conflict between groups: college-educated “elites” and working-class people (who often did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education). Trump stokes resentment among his MAGA base by constantly claiming that (fill in the blanks as appropriate) people of color, gays, trans folks, feminists, non-Christians, radical lunatics... are ruining our country, taking things, depriving other more deserving people, to whom these advantages rightfully belong.

Working on Class Migrant became challenging a few weeks ago as I was seeing images of horrific militarized raids in communities around the country, and especially here in California. And my head was spinning hearing and reading about the many lawsuits against the Trump Regime challenging the countless Executive Orders through which they seek to strip us of constitutionally guaranteed rights such as birthright citizenship, freedom of speech, and freedom to assemble. So, I put Class Migrant on hold so I could write about the cruel excesses of the Trump Regime and the targeting of the Latino community. Of course, we aren’t the only ones at the receiving end of this hate. Muslim and Middle-Eastern brothers and sisters have also been kidnapped and forced into unmarked vehicles and locked up for weeks and months on end.

Other groups are also at the receiving end of racism, homophobia, transphobia, the kind of prejudice that is front and center in my first show, Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?  This Regime, like those in fascist countries, is telling us that "dear leader" is never wrong and commanding us about what we should think, what we can read, who we can associate with, and what we women can do with our bodies. I say HELL NO!!

How vulnerable are you feeling, my Latino peeps? What about the rest of you?

Donald Trump makes clear in his white supremacist comments and ALL CAP posts that he considers Blacks, Latinos, Indigenous folks intellectually inferior, not deserving of a good education, of jobs that pay well with advancement possibility, and of leadership opportunities.

I did not imagine that one day, I’d be living in a country where my right to live here would be challenged.

And so, I’m writing about what is unfolding before our very eyes, and lucky me that I am enrolled in a 10-week class with solo theater maestro, David Ford. Halfway through our Saturday meetings, I decided to switch my focus and put Class Migrant on hold (at least temporarily). My new work, The ICEmen Cometh, explores the nation’s relationship to immigrant groups and how this has changed over the years. I remind my fellow Americans, descendants of European immigrants, who came in earlier waves of mass migration in the 19^th and early 20^th Century, how their ancestors were treated. And so much more.

I’ll be performing a 20-minute excerpt of this new work in a staged reading at The Berkeley Marsh Theater on Tuesday, August 19^th at 7:30 pm. It’s a student group show, with five different performers, each doing excerpts of 15-20 minutes. Studying with David Ford is a great learning experience as all the students are writing solo shows, which are in various stages of development. I learn so much from watching the evolution of the stories others are telling.

If you live in the Bay Area, I hope you’ll see our shows. I offer you a money-back guarantee that you will enjoy the entire evening and will reflect on these stories in the weeks ahead.

The ICEmen Cometh

Tuesday 8/19 @ 7:30 pm

The Berkeley Marsh

2120 Allston Way

Berkeley, CA

(Across the street from the Downtown Berkeley BART station)

Buying tickets online is a bit tricky, so here are directions on what to do after you open this URL.

First, you’ll see:

"David Ford’s Class Performance Summer 2025"

There are shows on both Monday and Tuesday, so to buy tickets for Tuesday, click the arrow below Audrey Mei’s name,

"Show Info"

You’ll see Tuesday’s lineup, with the names of the performers and the title of the pieces we have written.

Tickets are $13 (including service fee) and are also available at the door.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see my Bay Area friends at this presentation.