The United States of America is known to be the land of dreams where people can pursue happiness. Growing up, one used to get told that no matter what skin color you have, what religion you believe in, or whether you’re disabled or not you will still be treated with equality and respect.
The White House decided otherwise, On February 15, 2025, they posted a video, captioned as; “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight”, which contained a video clip of undocumented immigrants being placed in shackles and transferred to a plane for deportation. There was no dialogue in the video, but you could hear the shackles hitting the ground, and the loud aircraft engines roaring for take-off.
In my opinion this can be interpreted as a psychological torture method due to its discomfort content. ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) this audio introduces relaxation and comfort to watchers/listeners; although when it comes to pairing ASMR with distressing themes such as deportation, it creates fear and heightens anxiety.
It brings such an unsettling feeling to viewers and listeners, the fact that a government official account decided to post a video dehumanizing a specific race (Hispanics) and labeling them, “aliens”. A race that has not only fought to defend this country but has also worked for decades building up the infrastructure all around the United States of America.
America is all about moving forward, but in the last couple of weeks it feels more like we are moving backwards into darker times.
