By Victoria Mejicanos, April 29, 2025
Spreading misinformation, punishing those who dissent, erasing history, silencing the press and scholars, scapegoating marginalized groups of people, suppressing voters and an economy steering toward ruin — this is the United States of America.
Our country is in a crisis. It’s become a place I no longer recognize, and that scares me. Instead of the free and fair democracy with checks and balances we’ve been promised through the Constitution, I have slowly watched the U.S. reach the point of no return. It is beginning to emulate an authoritarian government.
Former Vice President Al Gore spoke about the Trump administration and compared its actions to Nazi Germany at a San Francisco climate crisis event this week. He made the important distinction that it’s wrong to compare Nazi Germany to any other political movement, but he mentioned important parallels.
He also quoted philosopher Theodor Adorno, who said, “The first step of that nation’s dissent into hell was the conversion of all questions of truth, into questions of power.” He compared this to the Trump administration, saying it’s “trying to create their own preferred version of reality.”
The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration April 10 to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. from CECOT, a notorious Salvadoran prison, after the White House admitted to mistakenly deporting him.
President Donald Trump choosing to ignore the courts, not just for this case but many cases regarding immigration, sets an alarming precedent. If an entire population of people is having its due process rights ignored, mine could be next. After all, I am “homegrown,” and if he can be jailed mistakenly, so can I, and so can anyone reading this article.
“When Trump is openly disregarding court orders, it signals sort of a breakdown of checks and balances,” said Mario Guerrero, the chair of the Department of Political Science.
Guererro also said past administrations have never taken their executive power this far.
No one truly knows what happens to the prisoners in CECOT, and when the Salvadoran government says things like prisoners will “never leave,” only the worst comes to mind.
I cannot begin to imagine what is happening to the women and children who are being deported. Lack of clarity and information about who is being targeted in immigration raids is intentional. An ill-informed, scared and tired country is easy to pacify. Choosing not to pay attention is a luxury average Americans will soon no longer be able to afford.
The Trump administration is already signaling which marginalized group is next: those with autism. It’s as if autistic people are a threat to the health of the country.
“From what we know from history, this is not a good direction to be on,” Guererro said.
The only branch of government left to mediate and call attention to the attack on the Constitution that is occurring is the legislative branch, which is controlled by Republicans. We have the power to change that with our vote during midterm elections, but even voting is becoming increasingly difficult because of the SAVE Act, which requires two forms of identification be provided in order to vote in a federal election.
Licenses, which are usually standard forms of ID, don’t count. Instead, eligible documents would be a Real ID, a birth certificate or a passport. Each of the two forms of documentation need to have matching names, meaning it will affect the 83% of women who change their last name when they marry.
What I find most disheartening is the fact these actions were never secret. Trump has been making threats to marginalized groups of people before he became president. His outlandish, childish behavior is no longer an excuse to not pay attention to his threats against democracy.
Many have been raising alarm for years. We are out of time to listen. I’m scared, and I have every right to be. What matters is what I and those around me do with that fear. I refuse to freeze. I refuse to stay quiet, and I promise to fight back in any way I can, even if it’s only with words.
Feature graphic by Connor Lālea Hampton
