As Donald Trump completes his first 100 days of his second term in the White House, the twice impeached, convicted felon has issued 142 executive orders, employed billionaire Elon Musk to dismantle federal agencies, fire tens of thousands of government workers, slash Congressionally approved budgets for healthcare research, education, foreign aid and sabotaged the Social Security system. At the same time, Trump has also aggressively exacted retribution against his perceived political enemies, including law firms, universities, media outlets, former staff members and anyone perceived as a critic of his regime. Trump’s imposition of unprecedented tariffs on nations around the world has wreaked havoc on the stock and bond market, severely weakened the U.S. dollar, ramped up inflation and set the stage for a damaging recession.
Although Trump focused his 2024 election campaign on demonizing immigrants of color — pledging to deport millions who he falsely stereotypes as violent criminals — his administration is deporting many legal U.S. residents, international students and people accused of being gang members based solely on their tattoos, all without due process. The president continues to defy a Supreme Court order to return Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S., who was mistakenly sent to a brutal prison in El Salvador. More recently, the Trump regime has deported three children who are U.S. citizens to Honduras with their mothers, including a 4-year-old receiving treatment for metastatic cancer. Trump’s FBI dramatically escalated its assault on the courts on April 25 when agents arrested Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented man in her courtroom avoid arrest by ICE agents.
Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Dulce Guzmán, executive director of the Alianza Americas, who discusses her group’s concerns about Trump’s mass deportation policy that is denying those targeted with due process, which legal scholars warn threatens all Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed rights.
DULCE GUZMAN: It’s really a horrific moment that we’re living here in the U.S. right now. It was really a publicity stunt to show a picture of a sitting judge being handcuffed and walked to a police vehicle.
I think that the remarks by Attorney General Pam Bondi says it all. They are trying to weaponize and politicize the judicial system so that they can get by with continuing to violate the U.S. Constitution. Many of the things that they are doing right now is plain lawlessness.
We are very concerned with this situation because as we know, the judiciary is a co-equal branch of this government. And what we’re seeing is a complete disregard for their authority and for them doing their job of making sure that we’re following laws and that the executive is also using his power by abiding by the Constitution.
SCOTT HARRIS: Dulce, there’s been growing attention on three young children who are U.S. citizens, who’ve been deported by the Trump administration to Honduras.
One of those children is suffering with stage four metastatic cancer and was deported without being able to consult with a lawyer or a doctor or, I believe it was his father, who could have taken custody of that child to continue his cancer treatment. This seems like another instance of reckless carelessness or cruelty. Intentional cruelty.
DULCE GUZMAN: Yes. I mean, you could see it on Tom Homan’s face when he was interviewed — I don’t know if it was over the weekend or earlier today — but when he was asked about the situation, he tried to evade as if he wasn’t aware or didn’t have the details because he knows that it’s wrong. They’re trying to excuse themselves, trying to categorize us all as criminals.
But I think we can clearly see that their agenda really is to pick and choose who gets to be in this country, who gets to be protected as a U.S. citizen because as we’re seeing, it’s even U.S. citizen children, people that are also getting caught in this irresponsible way of enforcing our laws.
So I think that we need to continue raising these stories because they’re being reckless, as you said. They’re not following the procedures that are put in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen.
SCOTT HARRIS: Well, Dulce, this I also wanted to ask you about the Trump regime’s decision to continue defying federal courts and the 9 to 0 Supreme Court ruling to facilitate the return of Maryland resident and father, Kilmer Abrego Garcia, back to the U.S. from a brutal prison in El Salvador, where he was flown to El Salvador mistakenly although he is a legal U.S. resident.
Trump administration officials continually refer to him as a gang member and a terrorist without any facts to back that up.
DULCE GUZMAN: Yes. And that’s, I think, something that we are trying to raise the alarms anywhere, anywhere that will hear us so that we try to make ourselves heard because this is something that doesn’t just impact immigrants that are getting caught in this reckless system, but it’s going to affect U.S. citizens.
And we’ve heard it directly from Trump that they’re looking into ways to do this to U.S. citizens. I think that Abrego Garcia’s case is an emblematic case, because it’s the really clear example of what is currently happening. But there’s also 260 other individuals that are currently sitting in that El Salvador prison who we don’t know really what evidence or reason, you know, they had for getting caught up in this.
And I think that we’re really seeing the importance of due process. We can’t have an argument about whether or not somebody should be arrested or detained because they’re just cutting straight through and saying, because you look like this or because you have this tattoo on you, we think you belong in a prison.
SCOTT HARRIS: So I did want to talk to you more about that issue of this is not an issue of due process just for immigrants. If the Trump administration can defy U.S. courts and even the Supreme Court to have masked agents pick up citizens and non-citizens, anyone in the U.S. and deport them to a foreign prison with no hope of ever being released, no court adjudication of guilt or innocence, then democracy is over in this country, is it not?
DULCE GUZMAN: Yes, I 100 percent agree and believe in that. The administration talks a lot about public safety and national safety and interest. But really, what is a democracy and what is safety if nobody really has individual rights? What does having a “free system” mean if you could be picked up at any second, if you’re not given the opportunity to prove yourself or present a case, and have a court justly decide based on evidence, in fact, whether or not you have committed a crime.
I think that this is a very serious and delicate moment and I think people need to continue speaking up about this before it gets even worse.
For more information, visit Alianza Americas at alianzaamericas.
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