距离选举日仅剩不到30天，最新报道显示：眼看自己所在的政党极有可能在中期选举中落败，陷入绝境的唐纳德·特朗普转而动用了自重新就任总统以来便着力培植的专制工具。
With less than 30 days until Election Day new reporting offers evidence that a desperate Donald Trump facing a likely midterm defeat for his party, has turned to an authoritarian tool he has been cultivating since retaking the presidency.
在第二个任期内，特朗普试图彻底改造美国移民与海关执法局。他提出的所谓“一项伟大而完美的法案”为该机构新增了750亿美元的资金支持——这一数额甚至超过了法国、日本和韩国等多个国家的军费开支总额。
In his second term, Trump has sought to transform Immigration and Customs Enforcement His so-called “one big, beautiful bill” funneled $75 billion in new funding to the agency — more than the total military spending of several countries, including France, Japan and South Korea.
他允许ICE执法人员佩戴面具、匿名行动，以此规避外界监督与问责。
He has allowed ICE officers to wear masks and operate anonymously, shielding agents from scrutiny and accountability.
他还派遣ICE在洛杉矶、芝加哥等由民主党执政的城市开展大规模移民执法行动。今年早些时候，明尼阿波利斯市出动的联邦移民执法人员数量甚至超过了当地警力。此外，未经专业训练的ICE人员还多次对本国公民及外籍人士实施暴力行为。
He has deployed ICE to carry out sweeping immigration operations in Democratic-led cities, such as Los Angeles and Chicago. In Minneapolis earlier this year, the number of federal immigration agents deployed to the city outnumbered the local police force. And untrained ICE agents have repeatedly used violence against citizens and noncitizens alike.
政府的种种行径营造出了一种恐惧与恐吓的氛围，旨在让民众在敢于挑战本届政府之前三思而后行。
The government’s conduct has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation designed to make people think twice before challenging this administration.
如今，随着选举日日益临近，人们长期以来的担忧似乎正在成为现实：ICE的恐吓手段或将进一步升级。数月来，特朗普一直在为这一局面铺路，大肆散布那些早已被多次驳斥的谬论，声称非公民有权投票。人们一直担心，这些无稽之谈会成为借口，让ICE借此恐吓选民或干预选举。
Now, as the clock ticks toward Election Day, long-standing fears that ICE will escalate its intimidation tactics appear to be bearing out. Trump has spent months laying the groundwork, pushing bogus, repeatedly debunked claims about noncitizen voting. The fear has always been that this nonsense would serve as a pretext for deploying ICE to intimidate voters or meddle in elections.
最新报道显示，这种情况可能早已发生。根据《Democracy Docket》分析的文档，过去一年里美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）对数百个协助美国人行使投票权的非营利组织展开了调查。作为ICE的调查部门，国土安全调查局尤其将注意力集中在俄亥俄州与宾夕法尼亚州的数十个组织身上，这两个州均为选举关键州。被盯上的组织中包括美国最大的穆斯林民权组织——美国伊斯兰关系委员会（CAIR）的宾夕法尼亚州分会。
New reporting suggests that may already be happening. According to documents analyzed by Democracy Docket, ICE has investigated hundreds of nonprofits that help Americans to vote over the past year. Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative arm, focused in particular on dozens of groups in Ohio and Pennsylvania, both battleground states. Those targeted included the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim civil rights organization.
今年夏天，《华盛顿邮报》曾报道称，数百名移民执法官员被重新调配，专门搜寻选民名单上的非公民。据该报查阅的一份机构内部邮件显示，自10月1日起，ICE执法人员便开始询问被拘留者是否曾非法投票。
The Washington Post reported this summer that hundreds of immigration agents had been reassigned to hunt for noncitizens on voter rolls. According to an internal agency email reviewed by the Post, ICE officers have been asking detainees since Oct. 1 whether they have ever voted illegally.
这项由纳税人资金资助的行动，显然意在为特朗普制造夺取权力的借口。他不仅纵容ICE肆意行事，还大幅增加了其经费预算；而ICE的种种行径则令全美各地的民众陷入恐慌。
This taxpayer-funded effort appears aimed at helping Trump manufacture a pretext to seize power. He has emboldened ICE and supercharged its funding while its operations have terrorized communities across the country.
据ProPublica的一项研究显示，自特朗普政府执政以来，至少有506名美国公民被错误地卷入ICE的执法行动，其中至少70人为儿童及青少年。至少有一名美国公民布赖恩·莫拉莱斯·加西亚遭到驱逐；他直到一个月前才获准从墨西哥返回美国。
According to a ProPublica study, at least 506 American citizens have been wrongly swept up in ICE immigration operations since the Trump administration took over. That figure includes at least 70 children and teenagers. At least one American citizen, Brian Morales García, was deported; he was allowed to return from Mexico just one month ago.
国土安全部屡次否认曾逮捕美国公民，或实施带有种族歧视性质的随意拦截行为。然而正如ProPublica的报道所揭示的那样，相关记录却恰恰证明了事实并非如此。
The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly denied arresting American citizens or carrying out indiscriminate stops that amount to racial profiling. The records, as ProPublica’s reporting demonstrates, show otherwise.
但问题的严重性远不止于个别误捕事件。特朗普政府正利用ICE来彰显自身的权力。
But the point is larger than any one wrongful arrest. The Trump administration is using ICE to put its power on display.
正因如此，美国国土安全部也将抗议者以及监视移民与海关执法局活动的人士列为监控目标。据《Wired》查阅的一份部分解密的法庭文件显示，特工们跟踪抗议者行踪，开车到他们家中附近窥探，甚至直接拨打他们的私人电话。他们拍摄抗议者和观察员的照片，将图像输入面部识别软件进行分析，还收集车牌号码等信息，并最终录入由科技公司Palantir开发并维护的数据库中。
That is why DHS has also targeted protesters and people who monitor ICE activity. According to a partially unsealed court filing reviewed by Wired agents tracked protesters, conducted drive-bys at their homes and even called them on their personal phones. They photographed protesters and observers, ran those images through facial recognition software, gathered information including license plate numbers, and entered it into a database built and hosted by the tech firm Palantir.
政府这一系列行为营造出了一种恐惧与恐吓的氛围，旨在让民众在敢于挑战本届政府之前三思而后行。而这一切都是由一支行事隐秘、无需承担责任的联邦警察力量实施的——这支队伍似乎只听命于特朗普一人。
The government’s conduct has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation designed to make people think twice before challenging this administration. It’s all happening at the hands of a secretive, unaccountable federal police force that appears to answer to no one but Trump. The post Trump’s new authoritarian tool is already at work ahead of the midterms MS NOW