Trump ‘immigration’ policy is about to go full-blown fascist
Ever since Donald Trump hijacked the Republican Party and rebranded conservatism as America First nationalism, the fascist heart of the dictator wannabe has been evident for everyone to see — and now, in the name of “immigration” control, we are about to see how this is about to affect American citizens.
While touring Ron DeSantis’ new federal migrant mass-detention site in the Florida Everglades — lovingly referred to by the Florida Governor as his very own “Alligator Alcatraz” — Trump praised the modern-day concentration camp and suggested he would use it not only for deporting “illegal” immigrants, but also for deportation of U.S. citizens who commit crimes (via AlterNet.org):
“I’d like to say it, you know, it’s a little controversial, but I couldn’t care less,” the President began. “We have a lot of bad criminals that came into the, into this country, and they came in stupidly—it was an unforced error, it was an incompetent president that allowed it to happen. It was an autopen, maybe, that allowed it to happen.”
“And it did happen,” he continued, “but we also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time, people that whacked people over the head with a baseball bat from behind when they’re not looking and killed them. People that knife you when you’re walking down the street. They’re not new to our country. They’re old to our country. Many of them are born in our country.”
“I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too, you want to know the truth,” Trump declared. (Emphasis mine)
Now, to the Trumpists reading this article, save me your phony accusations of favoring open borders and allowing an unlimited number of immigrants to enter the country illegally. I’ve written many articles calling out how every president from Bush to Biden, with help from the spineless Republican Party, has lacked the courage and conviction to fix the problem.
This article is about the fascist ideals that drive everything Donald Trump does, and how he is using his make-believe concern about immigration and border security to destroy our God-given, constitutionally protected liberty and build a police state not seen since the days of WWII Nazi Germany.
Despite claims to the contrary, Trump’s recent comments about deporting people “born in our country” is directed at US citizens, or “homegrowns” as he called them back in April (via WBGH.org):
President Trump says his administration is actively exploring a proposal to detain U.S. citizens and send them to prisons in El Salvador. Speaking Monday, minutes before a press briefing alongside El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, Trump could be heard embracing the concept.
“The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You’ve got to build about five more places,” Trump said to Bukele, an apparent reference to prison space that would be needed in El Salvador to house U.S. citizens.
Responding to Trump, Bukele suggested his country is prepared to incarcerate U.S. citizens. “Yeah, we’ve got space,” El Salvador’s president said.
The proposal has drawn condemnation from some legal scholars, who said it would represent an unprecedented encroachment on the civil liberties of U.S. citizens. (Emphasis mine)
A few days prior to the 2024 election, John Kelly — a former Marine Corps general and who served during Trump’s first term as his Department of Homeland Security secretary before becoming his chief of staff — offered his take on fascist comments made by his former boss after Trump threatened to use the military against Americans that he branded as the “enemy within.” Kelly confirmed what we already knew about Trump when he explained how Trump’s disregard of the Constitution and the rule of law were evidence of the former president’s fascist philosophy (via USA Today):
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism,” Kelly told the Times while looking at an online definition of the word, “It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.”
“So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America,” Kelly said. “So, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
Kelly also confirmed reports that Trump has spoken positively about Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.’” (Emphasis mine)
Being a fascist isn’t unique to Donald Trump; the heart of fascism has been beating within the Republican Party for many years as they cling to the lie that Trump’s nationalism is a new-and-improved version of conservatism.
For example, at the first annual National Conservatism Conference held in Washington, D.C., we were told that nationalism/fascism was necessary to equip government with the tools it needs to right the wrongs brought about by the traditional conservatism that organizers proclaimed had outlived its usefulness economically and culturally.
In its coverage of the conference, Reason.com concluded:
“The true object of the nationalists’ ire is much closer to home: They cannot abide individual Americans making social and economic choices they do not like. For consumers, the question might be whether to buy foreign or domestic. For a business owner, it might be where to open a factory.
“Regardless, the new nationalists have decided not only that there is a right answer from a moral perspective, but that government should force you to choose correctly.” (emphasis mine)
One Trumpist Republican in attendance at the first NCC was Josh Hawley who, in 2021, introduced a bill that would have given government unlimited power to dismantle free speech by taking down Big Tech. It should be noted that Donald Trump proposed something along these lines during his 2024 campaign when he called for shutting down Google because they were being “very bad” to him, and he recently announced his intention to have government seize control of the internet giant.
JD Vance also loves him some nationalism/fascism. In a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson while running for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, Vance tapped into his fascist heart when he declared that government should seize the assets of political non-profits that don’t believe as he does and then redistribute that wealth to organizations that agree with his “conservative” views.
The fascist heart now beating in the chest of the Trumpist Republican Party has also been evident with in groups that used to be foundational to conservatism, such as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC, or to be more accurate, TPAC).
The destruction of conservatism has been a work-in-progress by the Mitch McConnells and John Boehners of the Republican Party ever since Ronald Reagan handed over the reins to George H.W. Bush, but the stark reality of its demise has come sharply into focus in the fascist ideology embraced by Donald Trump.
Equally tragic in this comedy of errors is how media conservatives-in-name-only — like the gang of sycophants working at the pro-Trump echo chamber known as BlazeTV — have sold their souls to Faustian Trump and embraced his nationalist/fascist approach to government.
The heart of a fascist beats within Donald Trump’s chest, and he will destroy liberty in America — which is one more reason why conservatives shouldn’t put their confidence in him or the spineless cowards that make up the Republican Party.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties. He the author of The New Axis of Evil: Exposing the Bipartisan War on Liberty.
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