The foundation of a functioning democracy is not fear. It is law, process, and the equal protection of individual rights. But in recent revelations about the Trump administration’s immigration policies, we are witnessing something far more dangerous than tough border enforcement. We are watching fear being institutionalized — used as a tool to dismantle society’s trust in the rule of law, beginning with the most vulnerable, and poised to reach everyone.
A recent report revealed that Venezuelan migrants were deported from the United States without any judicial proceedings, based solely on superficial indicators like tattoos. One individual with a crown tattoo — popular among soccer fans — was presumed to be affiliated with gangs and removed from the country without an investigation, hearing, or opportunity to prove otherwise. (AP News)
This is not border policy. It is profiling.
According to former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, the rationale behind these deportations is not rooted in evidence or risk, but in optics — a desire to be “seen” taking action. And in the process, constitutional protections are being pushed aside. Deportations, traditionally a legal and administrative process, are being expedited under questionable authority, including the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act — a law passed in 1798 during wartime, now used in peacetime to strip people of due process. (The Atlantic)
The threat here is not just to undocumented immigrants or asylum seekers. The real danger lies in what this normalization of unchecked power means for every American. When government agencies can detain or deport based on vague associations or appearances, without evidence or recourse, that power will not stay confined to the border. Today it is immigrants. Tomorrow it may be citizens — journalists, protestors, or political opponents — who find themselves categorized as “threats” based on nothing more than speech, background, or affiliation.
This is how authoritarianism creeps in — not with dramatic declarations, but with policies cloaked in legitimacy, aimed at one group at a time. What begins as immigration enforcement morphs into a surveillance state. What starts with tattoos ends with ideology. And when that happens, the American people will no longer be protected by the Constitution they took for granted.
It is not enough to say that we disagree with these actions. We must see them for what they are: a calculated strategy to use fear as a governing force, to divide communities, and to intimidate those who do not conform. The erosion of due process, once allowed for one group, will not stop there. It becomes precedent.
At Miami City Report, we stand against this erosion. We speak out not just for immigrants, but for all who believe in liberty, law, and the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. If we fail to defend rights now, we risk losing them altogether.
This is not simply about immigration. It is about the future of democracy itself.
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