Dear Harris,
I hate to sound alarmist, but America is on the verge of going over one of the key tipping points that separates democracy from full-on dictatorship.
Let me explain. Over the last month, we've watched in disgust as Donald Trump has begun deporting legal U.S. residents who committed no crime to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador outside the reach of U.S. courts.
Now, Trump is openly discussing plans to do the same thing to American citizens.
Friends, this is literally one of the grievances against King George III listed by the founders in the Declaration of Independence back in 1776. That's what we're facing.
Thankfully, more and more Americans are speaking out against Trump's authoritarianism, and the team here at Inequality Media Civic Action is working day and night to sound the alarm and mobilize the public to fight back. But with America on the brink, we must redouble our efforts immediately.
That's why I'm asking you today — with an increasing sense of urgency and worry — to make a monthly donation to help educate the public, get the truth out, and stop Trump's assault on our democracy.
The prohibition against the arbitrary abduction and imprisonment of citizens in foreign territories is one of the key criteria that separates democracies from dictatorships.
Now Trump is threatening to steamroll right over this bright red line.
The apparent test case for Trump's foreign imprisonment plan is Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland father and legal resident who Trump's own Justice Department admits was deported to El Salvador by mistake.
Now, Abrego García has disappeared into the notorious mega-prison run by Salvadoran dictator Nayib Bukele. But instead of taking action to bring Abrego García back, Trump told Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday that he's planning to send American citizens to El Salvador next.
"The homegrowns are next," Trump said. "You gotta build about five more places. ... It's not big enough."
Make no mistake: If Abrego García can be abducted and handed over to El Salvador, then no American citizen is safe. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote last week, "The Government's argument … implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U. S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene."
I'm truly at a loss for words to describe just how dangerous it would be if Trump gets away with this. All I can say is that it cannot — it must not — come to pass.
The team at Inequality Media Civic Action is redoubling our efforts to educate the public, get the truth out, and help mobilize the grassroots resistance we're seeing in town hall meetings and protests around the country.
Will you make a monthly donation to help Inequality Media Civic Action educate the public, get the truth out, and stop Trump's assault on our democracy?
Thank you,
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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