Trump’s America: The Seeds of Fascism Are Sown
Racism, state violence, and the systematic erosion of rights—this is how it begins.
Is It Officially Illegal to Be Black or an Immigrant Now?
Imagine this: On his first day back in the Oval Office, Donald Trump wastes no time setting a tone of vengeance and authoritarianism. Among his first acts: pardoning the 1500+ January 6th insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol at his behest; granting clemency to Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind of the Silk Road who profited off America’s opioid crisis; and signing a chilling order to end birthright citizenship, dismantling a cornerstone of American constitutional rights.
And then comes the foreshadowing. While suggesting he might pardon the DC police officers who killed Karon Hylton-Brown—a Black American citizen—Trump refers to Karon as “illegal.” Not a criminal. Not a victim of police violence. Just “illegal.”
This isn’t coincidence. It’s a warning—a deliberate signal to immigrants, Black Americans, and anyone outside Trump’s vision of whiteness: You are not safe; not only will I strip you of your rights, but I’ll empower and protect the thugs who carry out my agenda.
And it wasn’t just a suggestion, two days later he made good on his words and pardoned the two disgraced police officers who—by the verdict of a jury of their peers—murdered Karon Hylton-Brown, not an illegal, but a black man born right here in the United States
From Racist Rhetoric to Deadly Policy
Let’s start with the facts. On January 22, 2025, Trump pardoned two DC police officers convicted of chasing Karon Hylton-Brown, a Black man, to his death. Their pursuit began over a trivial offense: riding a moped without a helmet. This wasn’t about public safety. It was a power trip that ended in tragedy, followed by a despicable attempt to cover up their crime. A jury saw through their lies and convicted them of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.
Two days into his presidency, Trump erased their guilt with the stroke of a pen, undermining the rule of law and sending a clear signal: state-sanctioned violence against Black bodies will not only be tolerated—it will be rewarded.
But this wasn’t just about racism. By calling Karon “illegal,” Trump deliberately tied his murder to his broader anti-immigrant crusade. This is a man who spent his first presidency demonizing immigrants, tearing families apart at the border, caging children, and trying to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Now, on day one of his second term, he’s taken it even further by targeting the very idea of citizenship itself. His executive order ending birthright citizenship—a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment—isn’t just unconstitutional; it’s a declaration of war on millions of Americans.
When Trump calls a Black American like Karon Hylton-Brown “illegal,” he’s blurring the line between race and immigration status. He’s creating a world where Blackness, immigration, and illegality are interchangeable—and where violence against these groups is normalized.
A World Where “Illegal” Equals Disposable
Let’s be clear: labeling someone “illegal” is dehumanizing by design. It strips them of their humanity, their dignity, their rights. It’s a term Trump has wielded as a weapon against immigrants for years, painting them as criminals, rapists, and invaders. And now, with Karon Hylton-Brown, he’s expanding its scope.
This is a man who thrives on fearmongering and division. By calling Karon “illegal,” Trump is sending a message: if you’re Black, if you’re an immigrant, if you don’t fit his vision of America, your life is worthless. Worse, it’s a signal that the state can act against you with impunity. Police can kill you. Lawmakers can strip you of your citizenship. And the president of the United States will call it justice.
This isn’t just rhetoric, it’s policy. Ending birthright citizenship means millions of people—predominantly children of immigrants—will lose their legal status overnight. It’s not hard to imagine what comes next. If Trump is willing to call a Black American citizen “illegal,” what will stop him from applying that label to immigrants and using it to justify even more violence?
Trump’s War on Justice
Let’s not forget that this is the same Trump who, on his first day back in office, pardoned over 1,500 January 6th insurrectionists. These are people who attacked the very fabric of our democracy, many of whom assaulted police officers in the process. And yet, two days later, he granted another set of pardons—this time to the killers of a Black man who died at the hands of law enforcement.
And if that wasn’t enough, Trump also pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road, who made millions by enabling the opioid epidemic that has ravaged countless American families. While Trump loves to rail against immigrants as the supposed source of fentanyl and death in the U.S., he had no problem rewarding someone who built a fortune off the very opioids that fueled this destruction. Ulbricht’s platform allowed hundreds of millions of dollars of drugs, including opioids, to flood American communities. But that didn’t matter to Trump. He couldn’t care less about the lives destroyed by opioids; if he did, he wouldn’t have pardoned someone who so blatantly profited from their suffering. No, he’d gladly trade every life lost to addiction for a few extra votes from libertarians who idolize Ulbricht.
The message is unmistakable. Trump’s pardons aren’t about justice—they’re about loyalty to his agenda. If you’re a violent insurrectionist, a cop who kills a Black man, or a profiteer of human suffering, you’re a hero in Trump’s America. But if you’re Black, if you’re an immigrant, if you dare to exist outside his vision of whiteness, you’re “illegal.” You’re disposable.
The Intersection of Racism and Anti-Immigrant Hate
Trump’s actions expose the dark truth about his vision for America: it’s a country built on exclusion, where race and immigration status are weaponized to divide and control. The line between Blackness and immigrant identity has always been porous in Trump’s rhetoric. By labeling Karon Hylton-Brown “illegal,” Trump isn’t just targeting one man—he’s not sending a dog whistle to his base but blaring an air raid siren. A deafening declaration that anyone who doesn’t fit their idea of “American” is fair game for state-sanctioned violence.
And let’s not ignore the timing. Trump’s first-day executive order targeting birthright citizenship is a direct attack on immigrants of color, many of whom are Latino, Black, or Asian. By stripping them of citizenship, he’s laying the groundwork for a society where “illegal” isn’t just a slur—it’s a justification for violence, detention, and exclusion on a massive scale. With one stroke of his pen, Trump is turning the word “illegal” into a tool of oppression, creating a framework for a country where entire communities live in fear, stripped of both rights and humanity.
Conclusion: The Precursor to Fascism
If you’ve been watching Trump’s return to power and thinking, This feels dangerous, you’re not imagining it. These actions—labeling a Black American “illegal,” pardoning convicted murderers, and dismantling constitutional rights—are not isolated events. They are the building blocks of something far more sinister: a precursor to fascism.
Fascism doesn’t arrive overnight. It creeps in through policies that dehumanize certain groups and rhetoric that turns fear into a weapon. It begins with leaders who reward loyalty over justice, who dismantle the rule of law to serve their agenda, and who normalize state-sanctioned violence. Trump’s pardons, his attacks on birthright citizenship, and his deliberate stoking of racial and anti-immigrant hatred are the clearest signs yet that he is laying the groundwork for a government that thrives on fear, division, and unchecked power.
What makes this even more alarming is the deliberate targeting of America’s most vulnerable communities. By erasing birthright citizenship, Trump isn’t just rewriting the Constitution—he’s building a framework where millions of Americans can be rendered stateless with the stroke of a pen. By labeling Karon Hylton-Brown “illegal,” he’s blaring an air raid siren to his base, telling them that violence against Black and immigrant communities is not only acceptable but protected by the highest office in the land.
This is how it starts. Rights are stripped away, group by group. Accountability disappears. Violence is normalized. And before long, the unthinkable becomes law. We’ve seen this play out in history before, and the signs are unmistakable: Trump’s vision for America is one where exclusion, oppression, and fear are the foundations of governance.
The question now is, will we allow it to continue? Will we let this country slip further toward authoritarianism and fascism, or will we fight back with the tools history has given us—our voices, our votes, and our collective will to demand better?
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This is not just about Trump. It’s about all of us. And the time to resist—peacefully, powerfully, and with unwavering resolve—is now.
Sources
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