President Donald J. Trump right off the bat dashed any remaining hopes that he would moderate his extremist views upon assuming the Nation's highest office. (Though Trump's statements and behavior both during the campaign and following his election made harboring such hopes naive). Trump immediately launched a full-out assault on civil liberties, causing many Americans (myself included) to wonder just what kind of a country we were living in.
Trump has no respect for the Constitution, for the office of the presidency, or for human dignity. He has proven he will pander to the lowest common denominator at every opportunity, mixing extraordinary assertions of executive power with a blatant disregard for the truth. Trump will, in short, provide a supreme test of the durability of the nation's institutions and system of checks and balances.
The President's assaults on the Constitution and human rights came fast and furious, all enveloped by the now familiar clouds of lies and deceit, including Trump's continued assertion of the canard that millions of illegal immigrants illegally voted in the election, robbing him of a popular majority. Trump used that falsehood not only to sooth his colossal ego, but also to call for a major investigation into voting fraud. In a hopeful sign, state officials from both parties are rejecting Trump's claims of massive voting fraud. But the move showed the depths of Trump's authoritarian impulses. Trump intends to use claims of voting fraud to generate momentum for voter ID laws and other anti-democratic measures designed to restrict the franchise among those who oppose Trump and the Republican party. And because it benefits them, the danger is that many in the GOP will go along. Further restrictions at the ballot box will help blunt the potential for the political process to act as a check on a Trump administration while cementing Republican control of government in the long run.
Trump's executive order on refugees, issued on Friday, represents a profound assault on human values and the rule of law. The order, among other things, immediately suspends admission of all refugees to the United States for 120 days; bars refugees from Syria indefinitely; suspends entry for 90 days of individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries linked to concerns about terrorism; and prioritizes refugees fleeing religious persecution (a provision almost certainly intended to favor Christians). The order violates nondiscrimination principles under the Constitution and U.S. commitments under international law, including human rights and refugee treaties. Its human consequences are already being felt. News reports describe individuals being detained at ports of entry, including this heartbreaking story of Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who had worked for the United States in Iraq for more than 10 years and who was traveling to the U.S. to join his wife and young son. Trump could not have given extremist groups better propaganda material to undermine support for the United States in the Arab and Muslim world if he tried.
The refugee order is only one of several assaults on civil liberties in Trump's first week. Trump is also seeking broader powers to deport individuals in the country. An order signed on Wednesday targets, for example, any person who has "committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense"or who has "engaged in fraud or willful misrepresentation in connection with any official matter or application before a government agency." The order threatens to sweep in not only individuals convicted of violent offenses, but also anyone federal authorities think has committed a crime (however minor) or those who, for example, used a false Social Security Number to obtain employment, as many undocumented immigrants do (to the benefit of millions of American employers and consumers). Trump also vowed to crackdown on sanctuary cities, seeking to eliminate any opposition to his plans. (So much for a principled position on federalism). For good measure, Trump pressed ahead with his plan to build the U.S.-Mexico border, and impose the costs on Mexico. The wall is a destructive approach to addressing the complex challenges of migration--much of which actually benefits the United States--and has already inflamed tensions with Mexico, America's third largest trading partner.
There are more issues that warrant comment and concern, including the leak of a draft executive order on detention and interrogation that promises to maintain the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, contemplates reopening of lawless CIA black sites, and toys with resurrecting torture, which Trump, contrary to facts, claims works and which, in any event, is illegal. Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo were reportedly "blind-sided" by the report. (Mattis, one of the few competent and responsible officials Trump's cabinet, has been particularly vocal on not returning to torture). Yet, despite positive signs of some internal resistance, the current president's authoritarian impulses and disregard for truth and transparency have prompted concerns about a return to Bush-era lawlessness in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Amid the unfolding nightmare, there were a few signs of hope. A district judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of several victims against two psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, who, as private contractors, helped create and implement the CIA torture program during the Bush administration. Court challenges have already been filed against Trump's order suspending the admission of refugees. Maintaining public and political opposition to Trump will continue to be important. But, as this week has shown, courts will remain the first line of defense, as they have in the past.
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