There are moments in history when the masks slip. When authoritarian leanings stop whispering and start shouting. We just had one of those moments.
This past week, the Trump administration crossed a line many of us have warned about—but few truly believed they’d see: open discussion of deporting American citizens to foreign prisons without trial or due process. Not to Guantanamo. Not to a classified black site. But to CECOT, El Salvador’s mega-prison infamous for its brutal conditions and human rights violations.
Let’s walk through how we got here.
📅 A Week of Escalation
March 15, 2025
Over 260 migrants, mainly from Venezuela and El Salvador, were deported en masse to CECOT under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The administration claimed gang affiliations—without showing evidence, without trial.
April 4
A federal judge ordered the return of Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident with protected status and no criminal record, who was deported to CECOT. The government called it an “administrative error.” Comforting.
April 10
The Supreme Court ruled that the administration must facilitate García’s release—but didn’t mandate his return. A legal shrug. The government then argued it was El Salvador’s problem now. García remains behind bars.
April 14
President Trump met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at the White House. In a video now circulating online, they shook hands and doubled down: Bukele refused to return García. Trump floated sending American citizens—convicted of violent crimes—to CECOT next. The crowd cheered. No one blinked.
⚠️ Why This Should Terrify You
This isn’t about immigration anymore. This is about citizenship. About due process. About the constitutional protections that once defined American identity.
It’s also about narrative control. Because let’s be honest:
📚 Writers are storytellers. And authoritarian regimes always come for the storytellers first.
The subtext of this week’s announcements? If the state can redefine someone’s citizenship, they can silence critics. If they can outsource imprisonment, they can ignore domestic oversight. If they can erase your rights with a handshake, no court is going to save you after the fact.
What’s stopping them from saying a journalist “encouraged unrest”? Or that an author “sympathized with subversives”? Or that someone’s fictional characters promote “anti-American ideologies”?
It’s not paranoid. It’s precedent. The foundation's being poured in real time.
🖊 Why Writers Must Keep Writing
If you're a writer, a creator, a thinker—especially one with the gall to disagree—you’ve probably already felt the chill creep in. The hesitation before posting. The second-guessing of a plotline. The quiet urge to "wait and see."
That’s exactly the point.
But here’s the truth: the minute we stop telling uncomfortable stories, the people in power stop being uncomfortable. And that’s when they get dangerous.
So write the book. Publish the poem. Tell the damn story that makes them squirm.
Because the alternative? Is silence.
And silence is exactly what they’re hoping for.
Links to the full coverage: