In considering the concept of “the American Dream” (The New Yorker, 6/29/26), Hua Hsu begins with its definition in a 1931 book: achieving “a better, richer, and happier life for all of our citizens regardless of rank.” That dream came true for two generations with the meteoric rise in economic production and income in 1945-75, but young people’s expectations have suffered ever since.
Those born in 1940 had a 92% chance of earning more than their parents; that figure plummeted to just 50% for newborns in 1980. It’s even worse today. Hsu says that for Gen Z (born 1997-2014), the American Dream is now merely hoping for “a kind of bare-bones stability, for a debt-free life rather than one filled with riches.”
He suggests that the American Dream was one of our “great exports,” “an advertisement for a prosperous, socially mobile life unavailable elsewhere.” For today’s immigrants, legal and illegal, even a “bare-bones stability” entices them to leave their home countries for the opportunities and dangers of America. They seek “a better, richer, and happier life” than one filled with chaos and violence in their Caribbean, South American, African, and Asian countries. Chasing that dream in the U.S., even illegally, is the lesser of many evils such as executions, widespread corruption and abuse, and crushing poverty.
Research shows poor immigrants economically outperforming native-born Americans raised in similar circumstances, and mirroring the success of European immigrants in the early 1900s. The American Dream has beckoned them for decades, and their success prompts 79% of Americans to believe that “immigration is good for the country.”
But those numbers haven’t translated into a modern, functional immigration system, and we elected an administration dedicated to destroying the American Dream, according to New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes. ICE agents relentlessly pursue their quotas for detaining and deporting immigrants regardless of their legal status, and are free to use lethal force at the slightest provocation.
More than 50 years ago in Iowa, I was one of several hundred people peacefully marching to protest the Vietnam War. When we arrived at a National Guard installation, an imposing military tank was parked near the front gate. A question suddenly ricocheted through my mind: What would happen if we were faced with America’s full military force? There were hundreds of cheering, singing, and chanting people in the streets, armed with righteous anger and moral certitude, but nothing else. If the tank was used as designed, we would have been hamburger beneath its tracks.
The same thought reoccurred in 1989 when a lone protester blocked a column of tanks in China’s Tiananmen Square. Both the left and right use the image to illustrate the power of grass roots democratic movements against overwhelming military power.
Now imagine that the tanks are driven by today’s ICE officers in America. In our 250th year, it’s possible (probable?) that ICE would have run down the protester and been congratulated by our president. After recent deaths in Maine and Texas of people legally going about their daily lives, Trump strongly backed ICE actions by posting that they are doing “a GREAT job” and “CRIME IS WAY DOWN IN AMERICA,” although neither victim was associated with any crime.
I am wary of creating heroes out of innocent victims who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like the rest of us, they are probably not candidates for sainthood. But both men murdered by ICE agents embodied two traits prized in American Dream stories. They were dedicated to creating and supporting a family who could benefit from America’s opportunities. And both were working long hours in legitimate, blue-collar jobs (like European and other immigrants for generations), killed on their way to work before 7 a.m. when masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles attempted to stop them without lights or sirens.
In at least 29 cases since Trump became president in 2025, ICE has used lethal force against civilians, killing 8 and injuring 11. At least four deaths have been people who were not ICE targets.
Yes, it’s come to this: our government is supporting the murder of people who might resemble illegal immigrants by heavily armed and poorly trained squads without guardrails or oversight. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin explicitly stated ICE’s message of fear after the murders: “We remind illegal aliens attempting to evade arrest can be dangerous.” He should have said “We remind communities of color that attempting to pursue the American Dream can result in being shot dead in the street.”
Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era historical fiction novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears regularly on a Saturday. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.