No More Kings - Or - Game Over?

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

I favor living in a society with enough structure to keep people safe.  I am not a fan of mayhem and chaos, and, at the same time, I am certainly opposed to iron-fisted authoritarianism.  When it comes to governance, give me the basics:  a constitution which outlines our rights and privileges as citizens, along with a mechanism for creating and enforcing laws to keep us safe in accordance with the constitution.

(I also support full suffrage and representation for all citizens including those living in Washington, DC, and United States Territories.)

Constitutional Democracy is a simple process, one that has served our nation well for nearly a quarter of a millennium.  But now our entire system of governance appears to be at risk as our executive leader, backed by a compliant Congress, seems focused on carrying out a radical agenda without the approval of the third branch of government as outlined in the US Constitution, the courts - and failure to abide by the rules of our government, as set forth in the Constitution, is a mortal threat to American democracy and our way of life.

A person living in the United States who has been issued a "Green Card" has the same rights and responsibilities as a US citizen,  yet over the past few weeks there have been several high-profile cases in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) agents have forcibly detained and imprisoned Green Card holders without providing them their constitutional right to due process.

The best known of these cases is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City who had helped to lead the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia last spring.  Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent was seized and removed from his home in New York in the middle of the night on March 8th by ICE agents.   At the time of his removal no charges were filed.  When his wife mentioned that he was a Green Card holder, she was told that it was being revoked.  The Department of Homeland Security said later that Khalil had been removed because he had led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.

Khalil was removed from New York to a detention facility in New Jersey, and soon after that to one in Louisiana, moves some suspected were to keep him from quickly retaining legal counsel.

Fabian Schmidt has been a US Green Card holder since 2008.   He is a German citizen who lives in New Hampshire and works as an electrical engineer.   Schmidt was picked up by ICE as he reentered the country after a visit to Europe, and although ICE was being cagey regarding the reason for his arrest, it appears as though it might be related to an incident where he was found with marijuana in his car several years ago - a misdemeanor, but the family says there are no current charges - even by ICE.  His mother told reporters that her sone had been "stripped naked" and "violently interrogated" by ICE agents upon his arrest.  When reporters tried to learn more from ICE, they were put on the information merry-go-round and referred to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) - and a spokesman for that agency said the arrest might have to do with drug charges.  But again, no charges seem to have been filed.

Rasha Awawieh, a 34-year-od doctor (kidney specialist) who is based in Rhode Island and holds a valid US Visa, was deported to Lebanon by Customs and Border officials over the weekend despite a court order prohibiting them from doing so.  And now the White House has also apparently chosen to ignore an order from a court that two planeloads of ICE prisoners headed to future confinement in El Salvador be returned to the US until their fate can be adjudicated in US courts.

The Trump administration is currently saying that they are not violating court orders, although press reports strongly suggest otherwise.

Some of this is likely to begin landing before the Supreme Court very soon.  When that happens, and when a Supreme Court decision is ignored or defied by the Trump administration - an Andrew Jackson moment - we will have a true constitutional crisis on our hands and democracy will be in danger of being snuffed out by rich demagogues who care only for themselves, their personal wealth, and organizing the world to fit their prejudices.

It will be "game over" as far as our centuries-old democracy is concerned.

There, that's my cheery thought for the week.

No more kings!