Dangerous Times

By Joseph Carvalko | 19 April 2025
Church and State

(Credit: Joe Carvalko)

During periods of perceived existential threat throughout history, leaders have suspended civil rights using emergency declarations, often resulting in significant controversy and long-term legal and political consequences (e.g., Lincoln, 1862, Roosevelt, 1941, Indira Gandhi, 1975).

Each such declaration generally comes on the heels of an observable threat. Sometimes it comes as a pretext to a more sinister end. Hitler used the Reichstag Fire to stoke Germany’s dissipation into dictatorship. Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, similarly appears pre-textual, serving to justify summarily snatching immigrants off the street and deporting them to a foreign gulag without due process. As malevolent as that intention is, Trump may see his actions as more a means to greater ends.

Both Trump and Hitler invoked emergency powers in response to a manufactured crisis; Trump citing an “invasion” by a Venezuelan gang, Hitler blaming Communists for the Reichstag fire—each to justify extraordinary government actions.

There are notable parallels in the use of emergency powers to bypass legal protections and target groups seen as threats, but the scale, targets, and political context do differ. Hitler’s actions led to the destruction of democratic institutions and the suppression of all opposition. Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act on its surface thus far has focussed on immigration enforcement. But his actions have raised justifiable concerns about the lack of due process, and whether such a Constitutional deprivation might result in the illegal removal of US citizens to off shore prisons.

And here is the match that might light Trump’s fire, allowing him to actualize his real objective. It’s not far fetched to imagine that Trump’s summary deportations might devolve into mass protests, especially if US citizens begin to disappear. And it’s this that might open the door for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, which inevitably would lead to the deployment of the military. At that point the country will have reached the precipice of a full blown dictatorship.

We are in dangerous times!

Joseph Carvalko is an American lawyer, who for over four decades has represented numerous organizations and individuals, from billionaires to indigents. He has been actively engaged in organizations such as Amnesty International, as its Legislative Coordinator for the State of New Mexico; the Sioux City American Indian Center, board member/activist; and Chairman, Technology and Ethics Working Research Group, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University, and Adjunct Professor of Law at Quinnipiac University, School of Law, teaching Law, Science and Technology. He has also worked as a technologist, where he’s been awarded 18 patents in various fields. Carvalko has authored over twelve books which include novels, poetry, law, science and the humanities. His articles appear regularly in a variety of publications and blogs. He lives on the U.S. east coast and in the New Mexico mountains.

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