Eliza Bettinger
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scalywager.bsky.social
Eliza Bettinger
@scalywager.bsky.social
170 followers 530 following 56 posts
libraries, privacy, surveillance, new york state, digital humanities, odd datasets, maps, indigenous-settler history of the northeast.
member, Library Freedom Project.
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scalywager.bsky.social
A Facebook post from a couple of days ago in the small Finger Lakes / Southern Tier town of Spencer. Eight men who commuted daily to work in Ithaca taken by ICE. No community members intervened.
Screenshot of a Facebook post. Name of poster is blacked out. Text of post reads: "July 15 at 12:33 PM • G This is the house in my tiny town of Spencer, NY, where 8 men lived in various apartments. They went to work every day to Ithaca, working manual labor every day. They would wave to their neighbors, they contributed to our community, and 2 weeks ago the Gestapo ICE, under disguise with the Department of Transportation, waited for them to leave for work and took all of them. ALL OF THEM! People in this red town just watched. The road was closed. Masked men with no identification strong armed them into unmarked vehicles and drove away, their van and all their cars left in their driveway. Now, this house sits empty. These men were disappeared. No one knows where they are. Or if they will ever be back. Our 99.8% white town is now 100% white. And why? Because these men dared to be brown in our country. They had jobs, made money to pay rent, got lunches at the town deli or pizza place, they never caused problems, were kind, and NONE had any criminal history. This is the country we are in now. All of you Trump lovers please please please tell me how you can be ok with this?! How does this make us better?! It's disgusting, immoral, hateful, and of you truly love Jesus as much as you all say you do, he would NEVER be ok with this. Do something about it!!!! #icegestapo #gestapo #futrump #spencerny #newyork #immigrants @govkathyhochul please help!" Photo of large rambling house with small windows all covered by curtains/blinds, and clad in newer inexpensive vinyl siding.
July 17, 2025 at 9:25 PM
scalywager.bsky.social
What it’s like right now to be one of the *many* sole Asian American families in small predominantly white towns around NYS.
Mayor Jeffrey Oatman voted for Trump. He agrees with most of the work ICE is doing. But arresting Zhang and shutting down a village restaurant isn't what he had in mind. Oatman's kids grew up with the Zhangs' kids, who could be seen most nights doing their homework in the restaurant while their parents made a life for them, he said. It's the perfect American dream scenario, he said. "All I know is that we lost a pretty good, upstanding citizen in our village," he said. "That's sad." Barber Mikey Merritt said he voted for Trump. On Monday, he saw the headline "Ice Raids China Moon" across the top of the Queen Central News, the local weekly newspaper published out of a house on Church Street. "It's unfortunate to see something like that happen especially in a community like this where they're not messing with anybody, they're not bothering anybody. The community likes them," Merritt said. "These aren't the immigrants people voted to have sent away." Jin Ping Zhang and her daughter Winnie said they had no comment when a reporter visited Wednesday. In fact, they have asked the entire town not to talk about what happened. They don't want anyone to advocate for them. They don't want anyone to raise money. They have a lawyer, they said. China Moon, the Chinese restaurant on Main Street in Camden, is closed after ICE agents arrested the owner. Michelle Breidenbach Their neighbors are doing their best to honor those wishes. The administrator of the Camden community Facebook page posted a message that says he will not allow any discussion about what happened to China Moon. But at the same time, the story needs to be told, residents say.
July 4, 2025 at 6:36 PM