The Line Has Been Crossed: How Lawlessness Becomes the New Law

When a government no longer answers to the law, the people must decide whether they will accept it—or resist.

"They thought they were free."
— Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45

"We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence... by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
— Dwight D. Eisenhower

The unraveling of the rule of law does not happen in an instant. It is not a singular, cataclysmic event that sets a nation ablaze in open revolt or subjugates its people overnight. No, it is quieter than that. It happens when those in power stop even pretending to follow the rules and when those who might stop them decide that they no longer can—or that they no longer will.

This past week, we crossed the threshold.

The Trump administration ignored a court order, then ignored another. Then it stood before the American people and bragged about it.

Tom Homan, the president’s hand-picked enforcer, made it plain: “I don’t care what the judges think.”

There was no hedging, no attempt at justification—just the pure, unvarnished truth of a government that has decided the judiciary no longer matters. In another time, that statement alone would have sent shockwaves through Washington, prompting hearings, condemnations, and legal challenges at the highest level. But this is not another time. It is this time. And this time, almost nothing happened.

A few legal filings. A few angry statements. And then, silence.

The silence is how they win.

The first lesson of authoritarianism is that lawlessness does not need to be hidden. It can be flaunted in broad daylight, so long as those with the power to resist do nothing.

The second lesson is that when a government decides it is not bound by the law, it does not stop at its first violation.

The Next Phase of the Authoritarian Creep

Ignoring a court order to deport immigrants accused—without trial, without hearing—of gang affiliation was never the endgame. It was a stress test. And now that they have seen that no one will stop them, they are moving to the next stage.

The reopening of family detention centers at Karnes and Dilley signals the return of one of the darkest stains on American history. The same facilities where children were once held behind fences, where due process was little more than a mirage, are being filled once again. But this time, it is not just recent border crossers being locked inside. It is people who have lived in this country for years, pulled from their homes and their communities, detained indefinitely with no promise of release.

The new travel ban, which looms just days away, is broader and more expansive than the first. Forty-three countries, their citizens cast under suspicion, their paths to refuge or opportunity abruptly severed. The administration is not trying to stop migration; it is trying to change the very definition of who belongs.

But the greatest escalation is happening outside of public view, in the deep shadows where power consolidates and government no longer operates in the open.

Erik Prince, the mercenary mogul who built his fortune on war and private security contracts, has returned. He is no longer just pitching ideas in the margins of government policy; he is directly positioning himself as the executioner of Trump’s most extreme plans. A $25 billion privatized deportation program is already being discussed, with Prince leading the charge. In his world, state violence is not a tool of last resort. It is an enterprise.

And beyond even this, there is a new and brazen assault on institutions that have long been regarded as independent of partisan rule.

The U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally chartered nonprofit designed to promote diplomacy and stability, was raided this week. Elon Musk’s government enforcers—his personally appointed team at the Department of Government Efficiency—forced their way in, flanked by FBI agents and police officers, ousting career officials and replacing them with loyalists.

It was not a restructuring. It was a coup against an institution that was deemed expendable in Trump’s war against the so-called “deep state.”

If they can seize control of a congressionally chartered nonprofit with force, what else can they take?

Everything.

The Authoritarian Playbook is No Longer Subtle

None of this is an accident. It follows a playbook as old as tyranny itself.

First, they make a show of defying the law against those with the fewest defenders. If no one stops them, they escalate.

Then, they move against institutions, stripping them of their independence.

Finally, they expand their reach, targeting those who once thought they were safe.

The DOJ is already branding protests against Musk’s mass government firings as “domestic terrorism.” The mere act of damaging Tesla vehicles in protest is now being treated as an attack on the state itself, with promises of five-year prison sentences and criminal charges.

Compare that to how the administration talks about its own supporters.

The January 6 rioters, who stormed the Capitol in a violent attempt to overturn an election, were granted mass clemency. The president, the attorney general, and their allies refer to them as “political prisoners.”

But a person who spray-paints a slogan on a Tesla? A terrorist.

This is the message: The law is no longer about right and wrong. It is about who is protected and who is punished.

When the government ignores judges, when it hands state power to private military contractors, when it strips people of their rights with no process, it is no longer enforcing the law. It is wielding power.

And here is the part that many still refuse to believe: Once a government has unchecked power, it does not stop at immigrants.

It does not stop at protesters.

It does not stop at journalists.

It keeps going until it has reached everyone it sees as a threat.

What Must Be Done?

Every step they take normalizes the next. The first violation must be punished, or the next one will be worse. But if courts are ignored, if government institutions are seized by force, if public opposition is dismissed as treason, then the only thing standing between democracy and its destruction is what people are willing to do about it.

That is where this movement begins.

This is no longer just about immigration policy. It is no longer just about one executive order or one rogue enforcement agency.

It is about whether the American people will accept a government that no longer answers to the law.

The time for passive observation is over.

Organizing begins now.

Not just to document what is happening, but to actively resist. Not just to write and speak, but to build the infrastructure that will push back before it is too late.

This is not a question of whether authoritarianism is coming. It is here.

The only question is: What will you do about it?

#ResistAuthoritarianism #DefendDemocracy #HoldTheLine #WeResist