The Chippewa Cree, a Native American tribe, lives in the far north of the state of Montana. For several centuries now, they have been marginalized in their own country. Yet they say the policies of the new government are starkly different to any previous restrictions or discriminations. They fear they now run an unprecedented risk of being arrested and perhaps even deported, if they end up at a police checkpoint without their papers, for instance. And since Donald Trump has threatened mass deportations, many thousands of undocumented migrants are also living in a state of fear. His statement “there are only two genders” and his opposition to diversity and inclusion has increased the anxiety and fear of anyone who is nonbinary or unsure about their gender identity. DW reporters Shristi Pal, Fernando Mateos, and Ines Pohl went to two different states and Washington DC, and asked how members of minorities see their future
martin is afraid Native Americans are going to be stripped off their basic means of earning a living Carolina Palmer is worried that as a Venezuelan she'll be deported Lane and Aurora fear losing their rights as trans people There are only two genders male and female Minorities in the United States are anxious about the future since Donald Trump has taken office Those who are not of the white majority live in a state of uncertainty A protest dance against the threat of being wiped out The Chippoa Cree tribe lives in fear of becoming even more marginalized than they already are More than a century ago the Chippree were forcibly resettled on the Rocky Boy Reservation located in northern Montana close to the Canadian border All in all the tribe has around 6,000 members More precise figures aren't available We meet young Chipper at the reservation's community center We want to know how the situation in President Trump's America is reaching a crisis point for them You go through your dreams Being a native today in the United States of America especially as an indigenous woman is sometimes scary Going out alone You can't do that There's been a lot of deporting happening happening ever since the new presidency Um a lot of Native Americans get like kind of targeted because some of us kind of look like we're not from here And I don't know some of my family from down south from the Navajo Nation they would get what's the word Asked a lot by the by any like law enforcement saying like "Do you have like proof that you're from the United States?" Um so when that came about um our tribal chairman he also put out a notice for all of the tribal members to carry the ID And I didn't think that it was that serious And it wasn't too soon like after that there was border patrol coming onto our reservation After that me and my family we took precautions And I even have a passport now too So it was still like really scary to leave the res Honestly I felt really scared to leave because we don't have as much protection under Native Americans as we do here on the reservation It's just sad to see that and that to be scared to go out into a world that we should call our own The houses are thinly spread across the 44,000 hectare reservation There isn't a real center The next city Harra is off the reservation about 50 km away The only work available is there and they're mostly poorly paid service jobs Martin Wade Watson has a slightly better paying job He's supervising construction of a regional water treatment plant which will meet a vital need for the reservation The place is located in the middle of dry prairie Access to clean fresh water is very limited Martin is supervising the project It's financed completely by federal funds that Donald Trump is threatening to cut We're pretty much in dire need of it cuz when drought season comes we have to really watch our water maintain our water system We can't leave faucets running We got to you know and our you know the water we have on the res ain't nothing like that water out there Every president uh was on board that got elected They never did shoot this project down But if the funding is cut the tribe won't only lose access to clean water but also an important source of jobs On our pipeline cruise is 100% Native American This kind of project was vital for us Native Americans have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country 60% of the chip cre of working age are jobless We get looked past a lot Um I've seen it with my own eyes People qualified to do the job and others picked in front of them that ain't qualified to do the job And that's probably a big reason why is um who we are and how we've been looked at for generations In these uncertain times the Chippo McCree are seeking stability in their history and by trying to reconcile their traditions with the present For Martin that means taking part in rodeos riding horses and roping cattle My grandpa done it My dad done it I'd say I'm a cowboy I swing a rope I ride a horse I wear a cowboy hat I enter rodeos I'd say I'm a cowboy Just as they have for thousands of years The next generation comes along and is ready to carry on with the tradition Our next stop is Dural Here too fear of Trump's policies is ever present Dural is down in the south of Florida near Miami The town has 75,000 residents with three or four of them speaking Spanish at home Nearly every second person has fled from Venezuela Many are not officially registered and they've been frightened since President Trump threatened to deport masses of people who don't have papers Karolina Palma has lots of stories in her small shop There is a lot of nervousness in our community since our business is aimed purely at the Venezuelan population and many are beneficiaries of these migratory reliefs and yes it affects us negatively You can be anxious You can feel fear And a lot of it is because there's an overload of information Karolina Palmer is living in the US legally but she's afraid for her undocumented compatriots Uncertainty We feel that there is injustice starting with our country with our rulers and secondly the places where we arrive and where we take refuge This uncertainty is ever present If people are forced to go back to Venezuela they're not safe at all They've already lost everything So going back and trying to make a life there is complicated Venezuelans fleeing persecution by the Maduro regime could rely on a temporary protected status the TPS up to now But Trump's reshaping of US immigration policy has led many to fear deportation There are less people walking around There's less traffic and the shops are empty I work with a lot of Venezuelans and they are really frightened about the situation They are currently conducting raids in the companies Actually you can really feel the fear it's spreading Washington DC the next stop is where the president's power is based People have gathered in the capital on International Transgender Day of Visibility to protest President Trump's two gender policy The uncertainty of what's happening right now is what's really troubling I worry for kids who now have more access to resources than I had when I was young but are facing more louder backlash Generally speaking uh the way that all the politics are going I think there's a growing fear of across many people Aurora is visiting her girlfriend in her apartment Both only want to be called by their first names Good I've kind of known that I was trans for a good while Um I think I first remember you know having the words to call myself trans when I was like 15ish For a long time I just repressed myself and avoided it and went through cycles of hating myself and you know figuring out who I was and then erasing it all away I quietly without telling anyone in my life um started hormones I didn't really want to hide anymore And it it hurt every time that I had to talk to my mom on the phone cuz it felt like I was I was lying to her about everything Um and it would bring me to tears like every time I talk to my mom If I was a teenager nowadays seeing the entire world trying to persecute you because they're leaning into the the the dogma that the the alt-right is starting to spread in different pockets of the world I would be very scared and very afraid because I I was afraid whenever there were protections um for for trans people I have grown adults coming to me that I'm I'm friends with that are in their mid30s who are terrified of starting hormones scared that if they start hormones um that they will um that they won't be able to continue them after they started that they'll that they'll go down this route of like finally accepting themselves going down this route of being trans and and and accepting oneself um in its entirety telling other people telling your work only to end up not being able to get hormones What would happen if you didn't have access to hormones anymore I mean the thought of having testosterone in my body is terrifying right I I went through so many years always thinking about it and always just like obsessing over the the thought of testosterone in my blood And finally when I was able to start um testosterone blockers and eventually um estrogen I mean it was a moment in which I I saw color for the first time in my life I actually feel emotions rather than just repressing them And the thought of going back would be hellish But why is Donald Trump so focused on trans people There's really not a lot of you know push back if you go after a group that makes up you know what less than a percent around a percent of the American population And so it makes it an easy scapegoat for um politicians to rile people up on We try not to to let that fear control us though Um and I'm not going to let the fear control me right I I'm going to understand that my fear is valid but I'm also not going to let it change how I um present and how I react to things Aurora and Lane say giving up isn't an option in Donald Trump's regime of fear They will continue to fight together for their place in the US You like it's very picnicky It's beautiful It's amazing But I want you all to make some noise I want you to be visible we don't stand up
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