Without due process, no one is safe.
Late into the night on Friday, March 14, President Trump signed an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to begin the immediate detention and removal of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), who may be residing in the United States. Less than 24 hours later, 261 suspects were on flights headed to El Salvador (not Venezuela) for detention, even as a Federal Judge ordered flights not take off at an emergency hearing.[1] Without formal charges, a court hearing, and the right to legal representation for those detained to prove their innocence, a pre-orchestrated overnight operation went into effect to avoid public inquiry.
The use of secrecy, force, and a lack of due process is the work of authoritarians, not a free and fair society.
Justice and the right to live peacefully are fundamental human rights in a well-functioning and free society. There is no debate over whether those justly proven guilty of a crime should be legally punished, and if an illegal resident, be humanely deported. There remains overwhelming support for a fair and just legal system for everyone in our communities. However, in a world where neighborhoods are more diversified than ever, identities are mistaken, fear runs rampant, personal rights are denied, and the public is kept in the dark about law enforcement’s activities, anxieties run high and distrust grows. The use of secrecy, force, and a lack of due process is the work of authoritarians, not a free and fair society.
The use of the Alien Enemies Act will be of much discussion in the coming days and weeks. Every citizen and leader creating hope and change in their communities should be skeptical when a late 18th-century law designated for use by the Executive branch in a Congressionally declared time of war is expeditiously applied in the 21st-century without thoughtful public debate. The act is already considered controversial and President Trump’s application in peacetime even more so.[2]
Skepticism and fear are already running high in American neighborhoods. Observe your social media feeds, catch the sheltered faces of your neighbors, and hear the complaints among friends at the local diner. We don’t feel any safer and the increasing actions of the federal government under the new administration are amplifying that fear, not reducing it.
Justice and the right to live peacefully are fundamental human rights in a well-functioning and free society.
Laws protect and sustain an orderly society in its time and context. As society evolves, so must its values and the systems that seek to maintain it. Fair, ethical, and holistic outcomes are necessary for building and sustaining an integrated future in a complex world. We are no longer defined and sorted by borders, nationalities, or ethnicities. The only thing that separates us is the plasticity of access to economies, housing, healthcare, education, and the opportunities that cultivate human flourishing. The world that free-thinking societies have been building for the last 250 years is progress toward fulfilling the enduring promise of freedom and democracy where everyone, everywhere can pursue life, liberty, and happiness—even in its imperfections. But today there is a fear-driven movement to slow that progress, rethink the promise of democracy, or abandon it altogether.
Hope and change are grounded in the belief that everyone is created for goodness and belonging. As difficult as it may be to accept as we witness some of the most disturbing behaviors of humanity, belief in each other and our greater potential is foundational to creating a more hopeful tomorrow. Local leaders and community members seeking to create meaningful change for themselves and each other understand this and live it out in their vocation, neighborhoods, and families.
For everyday builders of hope and change, inciting fear and anxiety is not a methodology in our toolkit. Instead, we actively promote safe, inviting, equitable spaces in our everyday spheres of influence. We are known for inspiring compassion, rationality, and goodness that break down invisible borders, not build them. We are the cultivators of a better way for a better tomorrow.
[1] https://www.vox.com/politics/404681/trump-deportations-judge-boasberg-el-salvador
[2] https://www.perplexity.ai/page/what-is-the-alien-enemies-act-J8KTPK2dTEK4KmH8eHlMlA
Matt Till 
2 responses to “Fear and Justice: The State of Rights in America”
……. Wow! I read the VOX article you sited as well and thats crazy. It’s a really terrible precedent to set. If the courts are unable to stand firm and defend their own authority, we will end up with four years of a president essentially looking for every loop hole imaginable to do anything he wants. I don’t know if I’m conspiracy brained enough to believe that they will go full on authoritarian dictator, but the next best thing would be looking for obscure laws that were never done away with, and obscure legal arguments that can tie up the courts. The one thing I’ve learned in my own experience working through the legal process, is that even if you take someone to court, they can act in any way they desire up until the court gives a directive. The simple act of taking someone to court won’t necessarily deter them from moving in the direction that they originally intended, especially if they have what they believe to be a legal argument that justifies their actions. To make matters worse, many judges are unwilling to apply sanctions to bad actors at least not until severe damage is done. This was supposed to uphold the idea of fairness but it seems to me that it leaves a gaping whole in the system that is easily exploited, so long as you have no shame. The unfortunate reality is that this is a particularly common trait on the right. They, on so many occasions, will throw out the need for nuance in any issue they disagree with but then shamelessly demand for it when any of their hot button issues are discussed. With an environment impervious to nuance it is no surprise that these actions are being taken. The real question is do we stoop to that level to combat it or do we take the “high road” and likely, continue to be beaten. Can we afford to have a court system that will use a strong hand knowing the risk that it may not revert to how it once was? It feels like we are in an era of uncertainty where the fork in the road has no clear signs of a “right way”. These next four years will both highlight and deter the focus on local politics in the worse way possible, and I don’t know that there is an answer for it.
Ps. I swear I’m not a pessimist lol
Great, insight David. I think you’re right, it seems as this plays out, seems to teeter on that “Constitutional Crisis” many are claiming or warning us about for the reasons you just cited. Time will tell. Oh, and some pessimism is healthy, it keeps it grounded in reality!