Donald Trump has just done one of the most abusive, anti constitutional actions imaginable!
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the monstrous, dictatorial Tom Homan, and assisted by equally horrendous Stephen Miller, has sent a few hundred Venezuelan immigrants to horrid prisons in El Salvador, one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet, but often ignored, because of its small population and limited news coverage worldwide.
These Venezuelan refugees are said to be members of a violent Venezuelan gang that committed massive crimes in locations in New York and Colorado, and have been declared “terrorists” by Donald Trump, with him using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 for the first time since Japanese internment in detention camps during World War II!
There are many problems with this action, including the fact that the Alien Enemies Act is to be used only in wartime, and we are not at war, except maybe in the mind of Trump, Homan, Miller, and their ilk.
Also, none of these Venezuelan immigrants had their day in court; have not been charged with any crimes specifically; have not had legal representation and ability to defend against any charges; and fundamentally, have not been given due process!
This is authoritarianism at its worst, as this kind of lawlessness could, in theory, be used against any critic in any area of American life, not just supposedly Venezuelan gang members, who all, supposedly have identifying tattoos!
Already, there are cases of individuals whose family members in America have said they are NOT members of a gang, and even if they have tattos, they are not gang related tattoos.
If we are going to assert that anyone with a tattoo of any kind is to be deported to a foreign government that is authoritarian and accepts money from the US to house and mistreat people who have been in the United States, based on lack of evidence of having committed a crime, then ALL of America is in danger, just for being opposed to our President who wants absolute power without limits!
When one realizes that it has been stated that 58 percent of the American people have some kind of tattoo, and even if the number is lower than that, that means we are faced with the greatest threat imaginable in American history!
It means we have a lawless government which can arrest and deport anyone on any grounds without due process to a horrendous foreign dictatorship that will deny them basic human rights without any accountability!
This situation cannot be allowed to stand, and the federal judge in Washington, DC, Chief Judge James Boasberg, who is demanding facts and information and accountability, is now being threatened with impeachment, and condemnation for standing up for the rule of law under the US Constitution.
This is a cause that goes beyond these Venezuelan refugees, as it is a stepping stone to anyone becoming a potential victim.
There is the old saying that was used about Nazi Germany, that when the government came for the Socialists, no one cared, and when they came for the gypsies, no one cared, and when they came for the labor union workers, no one cared, and when they came for the Jews, no one cared. But then, they would come for YOU, and there was no one left to care about YOU!
This is a fight that must be taken in earnest by large crowds marching and demonstrating, and by courageous judges, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who has condemned Donald Trump’s attack on the DC Chief Judge James Boasberg, and also by courageous journalists, and just decent people, who will not sit by and remain silent!
This IS a moment of reckoning for the future of American democracy, and no one can remain on the sidelines!