The Overthinker's Journal

When constitutional safeguards crumble, hypotheticals become reality.

A few weeks ago, upon Trump’s musing of sending “homegrowns” to an El Salvadorian gulag, I posed a hypothetical, which was dismissed by some as fear mongering:

What happens if he mistakenly sends an American citizen to a foreign prison?

Worse still, what happens if opposition members of Congress are rounded up and sent to offshore detention?

Unfortunately, the gap between the hypothetical and our reality is closing.

In 2021, New Jersey passed a law prohibiting private immigration detention centers in the state. Yet, despite this, a private ICE detention center operates in Newark.

In response, three members of Congress, alongside the mayor of Newark, attempted to investigate the facility to assess its compliance with state law and human rights standards.

You’d think, given past rhetoric about “draining the swamp” and “getting rid of the deep state,” this administration would welcome oversight… but no.

Instead, Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, was arrested. Furthermore, credible reports indicate that DHS is considering arresting the congressional delegation as well.

This alone should set off blaring sirens! Elected officials attempting lawful oversight of potentially illegal federal activity are being met with handcuffs. Not subpoenas or legal rebuttals, but raw force.

But it doesn’t stop there. In April, a Milwaukee County judge, Hannah Dugan, was arrested by federal agents directly at her courthouse. The judiciary is now in the crosshairs as well.

If there were any lingering doubt about where this is headed, Stephen Miller, one of the ideological architects of this administration’s most extreme policies, has now publicly floated the idea of suspending habeas corpus. As if to dare the judiciary, he bluntly added:

A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.

This continues the threatening language of this administration, that if the judicial and legislative branches don’t bend to the will of the executive branch, they will suffer consequences for daring to be the checks and balances they were always intended to be.

Let’s be clear. When mayors, judges, and sitting members of Congress are targeted by federal law enforcement, and when administration officials openly contemplate suspending the right to challenge unlawful detention, we are no longer operating in hypotheticals.

Some of my critics have accused me of being alarmist. Good. Alarm is appropriate when the fire alarm is ringing and smoke is pouring under the door. If arresting oversight officials, jailing judges, and suspending habeas corpus does not set off constitutional alarm bells, what exactly will?

Sadly, Trump’s supporters, while claiming to believe in liberty and freedom, are in lock step with him on this.

We are not approaching the cliff anymore. We are right on the edge. Just a small nudge is all it will take for us to go over.