As the World Burns

I created this piece not long after the state-sanctioned executions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents. Like almost everything with the Trump administration, everything they touch turns to shit.

ICE's heavy-handed tactics were being praised, and they were playing out nationwide. Living in DC at the time only amplified the coverage, the scrutiny, and the backlash. There were what felt like countless videos on social media of ICE enforcement all over the DC area, some in my neighborhood and the ones around it. Masked "agents" with no clear identification, simply kidnapping citizens off the streets.

Since returning to office in 2025, the Trump administration has run an even more intense version of its "flooding the zone" strategy: taking intentionally controversial actions to overwhelm the public and the media and create confusion. It was so hard to keep up with the sheer number of outrageous stories. The killings and the coverage raised my anxiety. I couldn't escape any of it on social media, and I felt overwhelmed on the inside. It genuinely felt like the world was burning.