For weeks, Trump and his minions have been all-but-openly defying federal court orders, including from the Supreme Court. Court orders not to deport hundreds of Venezuelan and Salvadoran men to a hellish prison in El Salvador—defied! Orders to explain how that happened and who was responsible—defied! Orders to provide some shred of evidence that people deported are actually the “violent gang-members,” “terrorists,” and “invaders” the Trump regime claimed they are—defied! An order from the Supreme Court, the highest court in the U.S. system, to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the government admitted had been deported by mistake to a Salvadoran prison—defied!

And there are many more instances, too many to even keep track of. Many relate to immigration, but many other spheres as well, in which Trump is implementing his fascist vision of America and is not about to let the courts get in the way. Just Google “Trump defies court order” and see for yourself!

In the face of resistance from some courts and judges to Trump’s war on due process and rule of law (see more below), the regime has been doubling down—launching new and more outrageous assaults, racing to consolidate a fully fascist state that will be the engine and guardian of the all-around fascist transformation of society.

ONE: Now They’re Arresting Judges…

On April 25, the Department of “Justice” (DOJ) arrested Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit court judge in Wisconsin. She was arrested very publicly by FBI agents outside the courthouse, preceded by a tweet from FBI director Kash Patel and then later statements from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and press statements from the DOJ denouncing Dugan as “deranged,” “radical” and “shameful.”

Why was Judge Dugan arrested? According to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Dugan approached a squad of men (presumably ICE agents) in the hallway outside her courtroom, who intended to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican citizen on trial before Judge Dugan. Dugan asked the agents if they had a judicial warrant, signed by a judge. They did not. Instead, they were trying to use an administrative warrant (issued by ICE, not by a court) to make the arrest. 

Dugan indicated that would not be enough, told them to talk to the chief judge about it, and directed them to his office. DOJ considered that “obstruction.” After Ruiz’s court session was over, Dugan showed him a way out of the courthouse that wouldn’t lead him smack into the arms of the ICE thugs. ICE calls that “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.” Ruiz was caught outside the courtroom anyway and is now in ICE detention. 

But there is more to this than just trying to deport one person. On one level, it is part of the Trump regime’s ongoing attacks on “sanctuary” cities and states—areas under Democratic control that have pledged to minimize cooperation with ICE against their residents. While sanctuary jurisdictions provide only partial protection for immigrants, their existence has created a lot of practical problems for the deportations campaign. And they also promote a whole different ideological stance among people of standing up against oppression. Not only that, the sanctuary jurisdictions stand in the way of what fascists perceive as a need to control the whole of the U.S.—even, and to a degree especially, in those areas in which Trump/MAGA fascism is broadly despised.

But there is another level, even more ominous. Although most of the judicial opposition to Trump has come from the federal courts (whereas Dugan is a county judge), arresting a judge sends an extremely powerful message to judges at all levels: Get in line with what we are doing, or we are coming for you too.

TWO: Trump Says Trials Just Get in the Way, Let’s Stop Having Them

On April 21, a Trump post on social media had this to say about the most core principle of due process and rule of law, the right to a trial when accused of violating the law:

We have thousands of people that are ready to go out [i.e., be deported]. And you can't have a trial for all of these people. They emptied out insane asylums into our country.¹ We're getting them out. And a judge can't say, no, you have to have a trial.

And if anyone didn’t get the point, Trump made a similar statement in the Oval Office the next day. Vice President JD Vance, “border czar” Tom Homan and others in the Trump regime have also made similar statements.

Take a minute to let that sink in: The most powerful official in the U.S., the head of the executive branch whose constitutional responsibility is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” is openly telling us that trials are intolerable, that they get in the way of carrying out punishment! But the absence of trials means that in Trump-world, “accusation”—by any agent of the state—will equal “guilt.” And, of course “guilt” will bring punishment—including truly horrific punishment, like being sent to torture-camp prisons in El Salvador. 

Yes, here Trump is “only” talking about depriving non-citizens of their right to due process and a trial. But the exact same logic and outlook applies to citizens. In fact, Trump has already begun talking about deporting “homegrowns”—U.S. citizens that he considers “criminals”—to torture prisons in other countries, as he is already doing to non-citizens.

THREE: DOJ Says We Don’t Need Warrants to Break into Your Home

On April 25, a DOJ memo was exposed that instructed federal law enforcement officers that they could enter, without a warrant, the houses of immigrants they allege are gang members, and could deport them from the U.S. without any judicial review. To quote the memo: “a judicial or administrative arrest warrant is not necessary to apprehend a validated Alien Enemy.” And the memo specifies that after being seized in this lawless way, suspects are “not entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge, to an appeal of the removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals, or to a judicial review of the removal in any court of the United States.” So from start to finish, “suspects” are completely at the mercy of federal agents, and will never set foot inside a courtroom.

What does DOJ mean by “Alien Enemy”? They are applying—or using as a pretext—the Alien Enemies Act of 1798,² which says that an immigrant from a country that the U.S. is at war with, or that is “invading” the U.S. can be deported without due process. How do they know if any individual is part of this “invasion”? DOJ has a scorecard which registers tattoos and “gang-style” clothing as “evidence”—and in practice, that has included things like “autism-awareness” tattoos and Michael Jordan sweatshirts!

Also in the view of these fascists, no judicial review or Congressional approval is necessary—it is up to Trump to decide what nationalities are “alien enemies,” and then it is up to agents under the authority of the executive branch (i.e. Trump) to decide if you, or someone who lives with you, or someone they think might be at your house, is an “invader.” 

Currently, this law is being wielded against people from Venezuela. Of course, the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, so Trump’s justification is that a Venezuelan street gang has “invaded” the U.S. Obviously, with this kind of twisted logic, virtually anyone could be accused of being an “enemy alien” and subjected to Gestapo raids, deportation and/or imprisonment.

FOUR: Racing Towards Fascism

Bob Avakian (BA) speaks to the essence of this in his social media message Revolution #115: 

Trump does not recognize any limits to his fascist dictatorship—not the Constitution, and not the laws or the rule of law and due process of law.

A number of pundits, commentators and politicians have been pointing to growing protest around this, and especially opinion polls that show support for Trump is dropping, and drawing the conclusion that now Trump will have to back off. (To a large extent this assessment is based on the notion that Republicans are worried about the 2026 election and will “modify” the regime’s actions with that in mind.)

But the fascists are not waiting for 2026, nor do their plans hinge on having the support of the majority. Instead, as BA says, “This regime is moving with crazed speed to deny and eliminate basic rights for everyone who does not conform to their fascist rule, and to forcibly use the powers of government against anyone they regard as ‘enemies’—terrorizing/disappearing/torturing and silencing any opposition.”

And that is why the lawless attacks on immigrants and on due process continue to escalate in spite of serious blowback.

In response to developments like these, Holly Cooper, an expert on immigration law, commented that “it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this is a life-or-death situation to provide fair procedures for our immigrants and for people who aren't even immigrants who are citizens. Those traditional procedural protections that have demarcated us as a democracy are completely eroding before our eyes.” Cooper also said that she may start advising U.S. citizens to carry ID. 

Again, take a minute to think about this—we are fast entering a situation where any U.S. citizen who “seems” foreign could be confronted by fascist enforcers demanding “show me your papers”—and with the power to abduct, detain and deport them on the fascists’ say-so. In fact, this has already happened in at least one case—a U.S. citizen was detained by ICE in Florida for 48 hours under a state law making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to cross into the state. He says he repeatedly declared that he was a U.S. citizen, but those detaining him “were just laughing in my face” because he is Spanish-speaking.

Trump and his regime are moving to hammer fascism into place. And they will continue on this course until they are stopped  through truly mass, determined, defiant, nonviolent resistance from all quarters of society acting behind the unifying demand: The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW!. There have been some very positive moves and mass sentiment in that direction in recent weeks, but much, much more is to be done—quickly!

In The Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!

The Trump Fascist Regime Must Go—NOW!