by Thom Hartmann
“Whenever law ends, tyranny begins.” — John Locke
When a president declares an “invasion” to justify shredding the Constitution, he’s not defending the nation — he’s declaring war on democracy itself.
The United States of America has long been defined by its commitment to the rule of law. For over 240 years, this nation has stood as a beacon of justice, due process, and constitutional order. Yet today, we are witnessing a grotesque and unprecedented assault on those very principles.
Donald Trump, in his endless pursuit of authoritarian control, is now weaponizing a wartime-only power — the Alien Enemies Act — to circumvent legal protections, deport individuals without any due process, and imprison people indefinitely with no evidence.
This is an atrocity, an outright attack on the very foundation of our democracy, and it must be met with fierce resistance from every true patriot.
The Alien Enemies Act, a relic from the 18th century, was intended for use during actual wartime to address foreign threats. It was never meant to be a political cudgel for a desperate demagogue who seeks to inflame his base with fear and xenophobia.
Trump and his cronies, however, have now declared that migrants crossing the southern border constitute an “invasion,” an absurd and legally indefensible claim.
By invoking this law, they are sidestepping constitutional protections and rounding up people en masse, deporting them with no regard for individual circumstances, and throwing others into black sites without trial. This is not just an overreach of executive power — it is tyranny.
The administration’s blatant disregard for evidence is particularly chilling.
Thousands of individuals, many of whom have lived in this country for years or have fled unimaginable horrors, are being swept up with zero proof that they are gang members or threats.
Trump and his enablers do not care. They are deporting innocent people to countries where they face certain death, violating our laws, international treaties, and basic human decency. This is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored terror.
Even more horrifying, Trump is ignoring court orders to halt these unconstitutional actions. He is deliberately undermining the judiciary, proving once again that he does not see himself as a president constrained by law but as a dictator accountable to no one.
If left unchecked, this power grab sets a precedent that no American is safe from arbitrary detention.
Today, it’s asylum seekers and immigrants. Tomorrow, it could be political opponents, journalists, or anyone who dares to criticize the orange menace occupying the White House.
This is not hyperbole.
Trump has already signaled his admiration for despots around the world, from Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong-un. He has openly fantasized about imprisoning his enemies, called for journalists to be punished, and incited violence against those who oppose him.
Now, with this unprecedented abuse of the Alien Enemies Act, he is laying the groundwork for a nation where due process is erased, where the rule of law exists only at his whim, and where Americans must live in fear of his unchecked power.
And let’s be clear: this is not just about immigrants.
The moment we allow a president — any president — to declare an “invasion” as a pretext for trampling the Constitution, we are all at risk.
If Trump can toss migrants into Guantanamo Bay or El Salvadoran prisons today, what stops him from doing the same to protesters tomorrow? To journalists who expose his corruption? To political rivals he deems a threat?
Once the line is crossed, once we allow the executive branch to function as an unaccountable dictatorship, there is no going back.
The Republican Party, already complicit in countless abuses of power, must be forced to confront this atrocity. Every Republican in the House and Senate who still believes in the Constitution — if any remain — must rise up and act.
They must demand Trump’s impeachment for violating his oath of office, for disregarding judicial authority, and for trampling on the rights enshrined in our nation’s founding documents.
And they must demand the removal of “Border Czar” Tom Homan for saying:
“We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming.”
If they do not stop these men, they are aiding and abetting a dictatorship, and history will remember their betrayal.
But this fight is not just for Congress — it is for every American. We must flood the streets in protest. We must call our representatives and demand accountability. We must challenge this in the courts, in the media, and at the ballot box. Silence is complicity.
The time to resist is now, before Trump’s America becomes a full-fledged police state.
This is not a drill. This is not a partisan squabble. This is the moment when we decide whether the United States remains a constitutional republic or slides into authoritarian rule.
Every single American who values freedom, regardless of party affiliation, must speak out.
If we let this stand, history won’t ask how it happened — it will ask why we didn’t stop it.
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Written by Thom Hartmann. Cross-posted from the Hartmann Report.
