The rise of authoritarianism from liberal, capitalist states builds on existing institutions. From goose-stepping totalitarianism to iron-fisted presidents of a banana republic; they're just retooling the factory, not building from scratch. Secret police are a key instrument in every 20th Century example. The USSR had Cheka, Nazis had the Gestapo, East Germany had the Stasi, Ba’athist Syria had the General Intelligence Directorate.A feature of secret police is their targeted repression of opponents, rather than the indiscriminate oppression of populations suspected of anti-regime activities.That brings us to ICE and the use of War on Terror language to frame immigrants as threats to the state, thereby assigning them a criminal status that is then later used as justification to expel them from the US.Subscribe on Patreon to hear the rest of this series and get extra premium episodes every month. patreon.com/wetwired