In 1985’s Kiss of The Spiderwoman secret police in a South American country grab people off the street then throw them into a hellhole prison where torture and deprivation rule. Political dissidents, homosexuals and other non-conformists fill the cells.
A 2025 version of that film – now a musical – opens soon. The original was filmed in Brazil. They filmed this year’s in New Jersey.
How appropriate.
Today in the United States of America masked law enforcement (who won’t give their names or rank) pluck people off the street and hustle them, without a warrant, to detention in Texas, Louisiana or El Salvador — . The Trump administration claims they can do this because those plucked are, essentially ‘enemies of the state,’ possibly gang members or other undesirables.
So, we are now no better than a junta-led South American country.
I kind of miss “American Exceptionalism.” A part of that used to be strict adherence to the rule of law: even the Supreme Court is giving up on that, contorting centuries of rulings to grant Donald J. Trump near absolute immunity and the power to act like a god.
Talking about how we got “here” does no good.
The question, “How do we get back home?”
Remember, the United States broke its own rules several times in the past. Locking-up loyal Japanese Americans in desert camps because of prejudice made a few Californians rich while terrorizing thousands, to cite one example. In only took the country a few decades to apologize for that mess. Stealing children from Native American families and shipping them to boarding schools operated by sadists was standard procedure prior to the Japanese experience. (Honest history is not feel good history.)
Let me propose three steps…
- The Supreme Court reads the Constitution, especially those pesky items in the Bill of Rights. Even a student visa which allowed you into this nation ought to mean you have the right to due process and legal representation.
- Congress needs to craft laws which specifically limit what an Administration can do – and provide strict penalties (loss of employment to incarceration) for violations.
- No more masked, anonymous law enforcement. You get to know who is arresting you, as well as why you’re being detained. Even federal agents need to be accountable for their actions. A badge – if the street pluckers even have them – comes with obligations to the rights in the Constitution and the rule of law.
What are the chances of any of these three steps taking effect in the near future? Right now the odds are better for Powerball.
That can’t mean that the protests can stop, that good people can ignore what Trump claims his mob wants. Resistance is not futile if it is persistent.
Remember Ronald Reagan’s talk about the city on the hill? True, that was a Hollywood version of reality but, well, it’s better than today’s reality. We must demand that government always follows the law.
Glenn Koenen
Photo clipped from video of the arrest of Tufts University graduate student and Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk on March 25, 2025. To date, she has been charged with no crime and is being detained in Louisiana.