An Indiana woman took to TikTok claiming her job is asking her to do something she isn’t comfortable with: running a “citizenship verification.” Not only does she feel it isn’t right, but compares the expectation to the infamous Fourth Reich.
TikTok user Specitificallyautisticme, Beans, shares in her TikTok video that she works in social services. Recently, she was given very specific marching orders. According to Beans, she alleges that she is “expected” to “run a citizenship verification on the applications we receive.” And by simply making this video, she fears it’s setting her up to get fired.
As Beans explains, “If I get an application from an undocumented person, or a person who is in any way not a U.S. citizen,” she’s now putting those people in a specific system. That information is then “handed over to ‘the frozen people,’” as she says. Beans explains that her state has been working with ICE for some time, and now they even have ties to Israel. To her, it feels like she’s participating in their violence.
However, it doesn’t stop there. Now that Indiana has “outlawed homelessness”—for example, a recent bill passed making camping unlawful—and “changes to work requirements for SNAP,” it’s only causing more suffering. Without access to clothes, hygiene, and documents among other things, it’s impossible for so many of them to obtain and maintain employment.
Beans says the things she dealt with led her to take an extended leave from her job. She faced mental health struggles from having to deny others help.“One of them was an elderly person,” she says, with others being homeless and going unfed.
It took its toll, and now she’s worried about the future and what it will bring. She said being homeless in her state is “punishable with jail time” and fines. And “clicking a button” and sending someone’s information to the government in a way that harms them isn’t an option.
How People Reacted to Beans TikTok
Commenters responded to Beans’ video, many of whom shared similar opinions to her. Some TikTok users even had horror stories of their own to share. One commenter wrote that she left her DCFS job because the organization was “not allowing children of color to go back to parents.” A viewer who claims to have worked in public health commented on the post, saying “It is soooo dehumanizing all around.”
A TikTok user clearly unsatisfied with how the U.S. handles people in terrible circumstances had this to say: “And this is all to steal resources from the already poorest individuals. They want us gone but they will find out we will stand our ground.”
Some viewers tried to offer advice to Beans, suggesting she contact her union: “If not, you should create one.” One recommended working in the food industry. However, due to a back injury, that might not be an option for her. Others offered sly solutions, such as doing her job “wrong” until she gets caught.
Clearly, people aren’t too happy when others less fortunate are put through the wringer. The best advice Beans offered in her TikTok video was to support organizations that get people food and shelter “without having to turn in personal information.”
