Last month, I brought you the unfortunate story of Danish immigrant Kasper Eriksen. Up until April of this year, he was living the conservative dream. After 16 years in the United States he was working in rural Mississippi as a welding foreman, had four children with another on the way, was constructing a family home with his own hands, had no criminal record, was a proud online MAGA devotee, and was on the cusp of receiving full American citizenship.
But when he arrived for what he assumed would be his final meeting to formalize his naturalization, he didn’t realize he was walking into a nightmare. His ashen-faced case manager told him he’d missed filling out a crucial form ten years ago and would now be arrested and processed just like any other illegal immigrant.
Eriksen reported the case manager said: “had it been a couple of months earlier, during the previous administration, the situation would have probably been different.” Since April, Eriksen’s life has been confined to a cell crammed with detainees like himself, with a few hours of yard time each day the only way he’s staying sane.
Last month’s article wrapped up with me saying I was hopeful common sense could prevail, and he’d be released to his family. But, if you hadn’t noticed, “common sense” disappeared from the United States sometime around Jan. 2025. And so, Eriksen’s first court appearance earlier this month ended after just a few minutes with the judge denying him bail, with the tiny silver lining that he wasn’t deported on the spot.
But it seems he’s not getting freedom anytime soon. Danish news outlet TV 2 attempted to visit Eriksen at the ICE facility, describing it as a hot and humid concrete hell. After briefly making contact during the hearing, the journalists were prevented from speaking with him further by ICE agents who turned them away.
Eriksen’s family is in trouble
But, in a situation that must be repeating itself hundreds of times up and down the nation, it’s not just the detainee who’s suffering. Eriksen’s family are in deep trouble: “we are completely dependent on Kasper’s income. Legal fees are mounting as are living expenses with our sole provider being detained for over a month now.”
On top of that, as Eriksen was building the family home, his pregnant wife and four children are currently living out of an RV, presumably in pretty grim and cramped conditions as the hot Mississippi summer cranks up.
It’s easy to point and laugh at Eriksen, as a peek at his social media suggests that if this weren’t happening to him he’d be cheerleading the ongoing ICE raids. But someone’s personal politics isn’t a factor in whether an injustice is being done to them and their family. And, once again, don’t forget that there are currently tens of thousands of people in this Trump-inflicted hell as you read this.
Maybe all that time to think behind bars will give him a fresh new perspective on what cheerleading MAGA leads to? Always remember: the monster will come for all of you soon enough.
