One of the reliable features of non-welfare neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. has been a “migrants welcome” sign in the typical front yard. Now that Texas is sending asylum-seekers directly to D.C., however, it seems that the formerly popular “No Matter, Where You Are From, We’re Glad You’re Our Neighbor” signs are gone. I didn’t see a single one. Some houses still had the Progressive Catechism signs, which include “No Human Being is Illegal,” but not nearly as many as on previous visits:
The alarm system signs are far more numerous than two years ago. BLM signs remain as or more popular than ever. Here’s a variation (“Black Fathers Matter”), presumably from someone who has never been to an American family court:
For those who subscribe to the heresy that white lives might matter, the city has helpfully put up signs from when Northeast D.C. was, apparently, a mostly-white neighborhood:
Some more yards. Note the alarm system signs and the signs calling for D.C. statehood.
Migrants from Spanish-speaking countries might nonetheless feel welcome because a high percentage of signs are presented in Spanish. Example:
Here’s a sign in four languages:
Perhaps because the flow of the undocumented has been reduced during coronapanic, crime in D.C. seems to be up (we are informed by the media that filling a city with low-skill migrants reduces crime). In addition to all of the alarm system signs, I noticed that a Best Buy in suburban Rockville, Maryland, had hired off duty police officers for continuous on-site protection against “smash-and-grab” looting.
The police cruiser was kept parked in front of the doors while the police officer was inside wearing body armor and a gun. This is in Montgomery County, Maryland, mind you, which is one of the richest places in the U.S. (government employment, government contracting, and lobbying are, apparently, lucrative!). A “face coverings are required by government order” sign was out front as well, though I believe that the order has actually expired.
Related:
- “Washington D.C. sees recent increase in cases of violent crime” (Capital News Service, 4/19/2022): Total violent crime is on the rise in 2022. By April 19, 2021, all violent crime in Washington D.C. was at 961 cases. By April 19 of this year, violent crime had already surpassed that at 1,230 cases, an almost 28 percent increase.
- “3 in 10 District residents do not feel safe in their neighborhoods, Post poll finds” (Washington Post, 2/25/2022)
The ADT sign looks like NIMBY ism. The economic migrates are good for the economy, and if 5% of them are rabble and cause problems then that still means job security for law enforcement and private profit prisons. All of which boosts the GDP and makes the nation richer.
One of our neighbors in our apartment complex in bucolic Jupiter is working as a police officer in a more urban town about 40 minutes south. She said that she spends almost all of her time in a neighborhood populated by Haitian immigrants and their children. Without this population, many of whom are engaged in dealing drugs and other activities that are illegal under Florida law, there would essentially be no crime in that town and she wouldn’t have been hired.
There are some people who might say: “Well, in wealthy Montgomery County, on-site security is nothing new.”
But it is, esp. in front of a retail store like Best Buy. I’ve been there dozens of times in my life, mostly in one of the wealthier towns (Silver Spring) dating back to the mid-1970s and I can attest that the security presence was never so blatant or obvious. There were police, sure. But not like that.
I’ve bicycled up and down New Hampshire Avenue as a kid, rode in many cars on trips to various stores and malls and banks, and I don’t recall a chain outfit like Best Buy *ever* having a police car with a body-armored, firearm wielding cop stationed at the entrance to a store, in front of concrete bollards.
I still don’t care about Black Lives Matter.
I wished I had known you were at the Best Buy, I would have treated you to a meal at the A+J Restaurant across the street where they don’t take credit cards, but they do take Venmo.
JJD – off to check Flight Aware to see if you parked at GAI
JJ: I relaxed on JetBlue! See the previous post about life in the post-Mizelle Age.
PG: Yes! I see that JetBlue activity now. I am amazed how you took the photo of the Best Buy and turn it into something interesting. I see that police car all the time and it never occurred to me that it could make a blog post! Nice work!
If you are still in the area, you can come to Olney Day!
https://www.olneycivicfund.org/entire-schedule.html
I am looking forward to the Car show
10:00 am- 1:00 pm
Olney Days Car and Truck Show – 26th Annual
Sponsored by Fletcher’s Service Center
Fletcher’s Service Center (18001 Georgia Ave)
For more info, call (301) 924-4500