The federal government’s recent use of law enforcement has reflected something deeper than a point of contention— a slide towards authoritarianism. It is clear that the pattern of events making themselves visible within the United States are hurtling towards what resembles nothing other than the descent of democracy itself, exemplified in things such as the unconstitutional deployments of law enforcement to the violence and deep harm generated from them. However, before anything else is explored within this article, it is imperative to answer one key question— what is democracy?
In loose terms, democracy has come to essentially mean rule by ‘the people’ of a state themselves, through the representation of an elected group to represent the views and interests of the general public. The system comes with a series of checks and balances to block abuse of power from specific branches of government and avoid a descent into authoritarianism, or, a form of rule where a person or small group of people holds power and suppresses political freedoms and the liberty of citizens to fit to the frame of a specific political agenda. According to the Britannica definition of democracy written by Robert A. Dahl and David Froomkin, “States with democratic governments prevent rule by autocrats, guarantee fundamental individual rights, allow for a relatively high level of political equality, and rarely make war on each other.” With this knowledge, it is imperative to take a step back and analyze what is truly happening in the United States today. The executive branch specifically has abused its power as of late. This is illustrated within the use of federal troops and agents that is not only harmful to United States citizens, but violates the limits of power and constitution itself. Various cities have been targeted specifically—in a direct quote from President Trump on Sept. 2 regarding Chicago, “We’re going,” the president hours later told a reporter about sending in the National Guard. “I didn’t say when. We’re going in.” This statement follows deployments earlier this year, such as in Los Angeles back in June, an instance that was in fact brought to court on grounds of violating the limits of the law.
According to a BBC News article by Kayla Epstein, “A federal judge in California has ruled that the way President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer was illegal. US District Judge Charles Breyer said Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the power of the federal government to use military force for domestic matters.” Both cases of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, though Chicago is still lying in wait, have happened based on the grounds of both cities being “dangerous”, regardless of how unconstitutional the act itself is. While supporters have argued that these actions were necessary to retain order in these major cities with high crime rates, critics raise the point that much of the reported disorder was represented in unfounded claims. For example, in LA, this ‘danger’ existed in peaceful protests.
One key similarity between the cities in which Trump has used law enforcement as a threat and tool of violence? All are primarily Democratic cities with a high immigrant population. Washington DC, which saw similar National Guard deployments to Los Angeles in June due to ‘high crime rates,’ has 14% of its total population made up by immigrants, with Chicago slightly higher at 18%, according to the Vera Institute of Justice. In Chicago specifically, Trump plans to have the National Guard deployed alongside ICE for mass-deportations in primarily immigrant-populated neighborhoods, which directly violates the protection that it has as a sanctuary city. This further violates democracy in its own right through the lack of due process or representation for many people who are wrongfully removed and separated from their families, often based simply on racial profiling and lack of care for basic legal protections. When all of this information is analyzed alongside Trump’s continuous harmful rhetoric, including his use of phrases such as “Migrant criminals,” “Killers,” “Gang members,” and “Poisoning our country,” for example, when in truth only 70.3% of current detainees have a criminal record (and the vast majority of those convicted holding traffic violations as their worst offense), it is plain to see that recent actions have not been based in democratic values for the common good. They are aligned to a deep, arguably fascist political agenda that is being carried out in ways that violate the constitution itself, alongside the human rights violations within many of recent events regarding National Guard deployment and violent deportations by ICE.
Though democracy itself has been eroding gradually over the years, its descent is becoming a critical issue. This is clear in the oversight of the law that occurred within ICE’s deliberate and violent rejection of due process, a sign of authoritarianism. Furthermore, unconstitutional acts by the government have already been performed, such as the unlawful deployment of the National Guard, essentially opening the door to future actions that violate the liberty and rights of the American people. In the face of all that is happening, it is our responsibility, as students and young people going into this uncertain and deeply unjust landscape, to hold the world accountable for what it is becoming.
