Three key events occurred in the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s regaining power in the Oval Office. One such event was mass deportation. Most notably, a US citizen named Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported. A baseline of 10% tariff on all imported goods in the United States had a significant impact. It caused the global stock and bond market to free-fall. Furthermore, there is a startling lack of checks and balances between the executive and judicial branches.
Deportation of a US Citizen to a Prison Labor Camp in El Salvador.
On March 15, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father, husband, and US citizen, was deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. This prison is historically known to have violated numerous human rights. Days after deporting him, Judge Paula Xinis confronted the Trump Administration and demanded the immediate return of the US citizen. The Trump administration regarded the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia as an administrative mistake. However, the Administration disregarded the order and pushed the matter to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has ruled on the case. It determined that the Trump Administration must “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Additionally, they must continue to update the Justice Department on developing news. This ruling is definitive. However, the Trump Administration has stated they are not obligated to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return. They believe the ball is now in El Salvador’s court. El Salvador must determine if or when it will return the deported US citizens. This situation is beyond troubling; this is frankly undemocratic. The Trump Administration’s defiance of the Supreme Court is unprecedented. Numerous reporters have rumored that the United States may face a Constitutional Crisis in the coming weeks or months. If the executive branch can defy the Supreme Court’s ruling, then what can it not do?
On April 14, 2025, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, visited the White House. He was invited to discuss deportation with Donald Trump. They also talked about the situation surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Both Bukele and Trump stated that they have no power to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. They claimed that it is out of their hands. Who will bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, unfortunately I believe that there is not hope for Kilmar’s family. Additionally, Trump was caught on video. He stated that he would like for Bukele to build five more prison labor camps. The intention was to send “homegrown” criminals. That implies any US citizen like Kilmar Abrego Garcia can be deported on a whim. This can happen if the administration decides that your actions are illegal. Such actions are apart the president’s fascist agenda. for Donald Trump and his administration, “if you are not white get out”.
Tariffs are Terrific, said no one ever.
The United States is entering the current economic crisis. This is a result of drastic and extreme tariffs on all major and minor trading partners. On March 10, Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs. These tariffs affected all of the United States’ trading partners. The exceptions were Russia, North Korea, Belarus, and Cuba. These countries were or are currently under oppressive governmental regimes.
After the announcement, the Global Stock market tumbled, this caused the S&P to stumble 2.7% which is equivalent to a years worth of gains, around 4 trillion dollars. This is just the surface. The United States has entered a trade war with China imposing a 145% tariff on all Chinese imported goods. Trump’s entire plan regarding tariffs is to cause producers to move manufacturing jobs and facilities to the United States. There’s one big issue with that. The United States does not have infrastructure like China does. It would take years for the United States to build enough factories to meet the demands of American consumers. In the meantime, the average American consumer would be paying double the amount. We will pay double or triple what we typically spend on goods imported from around the globe.
The world has become a smaller place. The United States does not have the ability to isolate itself. It cannot be the sole producer for all goods we consume. It is impossible. We have entered a global crisis that will cause a recession if not mitigate, it also may be too late.
Does the Constitution even matter anymore?
The founding document of the United States of America outlines a system of checks and balances. It is set on the three branches of government. This system allows each branch to monitor and check each other’s power. It ensures that no one has more power than they are Constitutionally allotted.
The Trump Administration has decided that the Constitution no longer applies to them. This means that they can defy the Supreme Court and any judicial court. They believe the mechanism that interprets the Constitution is acting “unconstitutionally”. The Trump Administration has ignored at least 2 Judicial orders, either from the 9th circuit or from the Supreme court. That does not happen in a Democracy. We are meant to have checks on our system. These checks are supposed to prevent such things from happening. However, our system is failing us. The people we have put into power are failing us. The people of the United States need to act, we need to voice our opinions. This is our Nation, those who represent us are not our boss, we are their boss. I cannot express this enough, we will not let our democracy fall into the hands of an authoritative man-child. It is us, the people, vs. our own government now.
References
Cole, Devan, and Emily R Condon. 2025. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia Was Mistakenly Deported. In a Tense Hearing, DOJ Wouldn’t Say Where He Is. What Happens Next?” CNN. April 11, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/politics/kilmar-abrego-garcia-hearing/index.html.
Parnas, Aaron . 2025. “BREAKING: El Salvador Won’t Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and Trump Won’t Bring Him Back.” 2025. https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/breaking-el-salvador-wont-return.
Reuters. 2025. “Inside El Salvador’s Mega-Prison, Where US Criminals Could Be Held,” February 6, 2025.
“S&P 500 Index.” 2025. TradingView. April 7, 2025. https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/SPX/?timeframe=6M.
Wikipedia Contributors. 2025. “Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. April 13, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_Kilmar_Abrego_Garcia.