The Authoritarian Playbook
How Trump’s Second Term Targets Justice and Civil Rights
In recent months, a chilling pattern has emerged—one that reveals far more than isolated incidents of overreach. Taken together, Donald Trump’s actions show a deliberate move toward authoritarian control, undermining core American institutions like the judiciary and due process.
This isn’t speculation. It’s already happening.
From the shocking arrest of a sitting judge to threats of sending U.S. citizens to a foreign mega-prison, the Trump administration’s moves are sending a clear message: dissent and independence will not be tolerated.
The Arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan
On April 25, 2025, FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan, accusing her of obstructing immigration enforcement by allegedly assisting an undocumented immigrant in evading ICE at a courthouse.
Legal scholars immediately raised alarms: this was an unprecedented breach of judicial independence. Arresting a judge for decisions made in the course of her duties shatters the traditional separation of powers that has safeguarded American democracy for over two centuries.
The intended effect is clear: intimidate judges, chill independent decision-making, and concentrate more power in the executive branch.
The Deportation to El Salvador’s CECOT Prison
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has taken an even darker turn abroad.
Earlier this year, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a work-authorized immigrant and union apprentice, was wrongfully deported to El Salvador due to a bureaucratic “mistake.” But instead of correcting the error, U.S. officials refused to bring him home—later accusing him of gang affiliations without evidence to justify keeping him imprisoned abroad.
He wasn’t sent just anywhere: he was locked up in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison, a dystopian facility designed for mass incarceration under harsh, authoritarian conditions.
This wasn’t just an accident. It was a test case.
Threats Against U.S. Citizens
Donald Trump has gone even further—publicly suggesting that “violent criminals” born in the United States should be sent to CECOT as well.
Think about that: U.S. citizens, stripped of their constitutional rights, exiled to a foreign authoritarian prison without due process.
This would be an unprecedented assault on American citizenship itself—turning punishment into a tool of political spectacle and fear, outside the bounds of U.S. law.
Even floating such an idea is profoundly dangerous. It normalizes the idea that rights can be selectively revoked, and that loyalty to Trump—not the Constitution—will determine who is protected and who is expendable.
Connecting the Dots: A Dangerous Pattern
These incidents are not isolated:
Judges are arrested for standing up to federal overreach.
Immigrants are wrongfully deported and left to rot in authoritarian prisons.
Citizens are threatened with exile to brutal foreign facilities.
This is the authoritarian playbook in action:
Discredit and neutralize independent courts.
Use immigration enforcement as a political weapon.
Erode the concept of citizenship and due process.
Instill fear and normalize state-sponsored retaliation.
This is how democracies die—not all at once, but through steady, calculated blows against the institutions meant to protect freedom.
Why It Matters Now
If Trump follows through on these threats and precedents, the damage to American democracy could be permanent. Judicial independence, the right to due process, and even the meaning of citizenship itself are at stake.
These aren’t theoretical risks. They are happening right now. The only question is whether enough Americans will recognize the pattern—and resist—before it’s too late.
Up Next
Undermining the courts is just the beginning.
In our next post, we’ll examine how deregulation and privatization hollow out the public services communities depend on.