Trump's Dystopian Vision: Militarizing Immigration, Embracing Lies, and Pardoning Violence

You don’t want to live in the future he has in mind

Just when you think you've seen the depths of Donald Trump’s depravity, he plunges even lower. In a recent Time magazine interview, he openly discusses using the military to round up millions of undocumented immigrants, detain them in camps, and deport them en masse. It's nothing short of terrifyingly dystopian.

“..if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se,” said Trump when asked about his plan to deport as many as 20 million people. “We have to have safety in our country,” he said. “We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job.”

Let’s pause and consider the implications. Are we to believe that he would deploy law enforcement, National Guard troops, and even the U.S. military to capture and incarcerate individuals like the waitress who served you at the diner, the day laborers next door, or the migrant workers in agriculture? Unfortunately, it seems we must take him at his word.

As usual, Trump lied when he justified his plan, suggesting that it would be a way of fighting violent crime because, you know, these migrants commit more crime than anyone else. (In fact the opposite is true.) He plans to capture and deport 20 million illegal immigrants when there are fewer than that here. When told that U.S. law prohibits using the military against civilians he said,  “These aren’t civilians.” This is another lie, and also quite chilling.

As Trump served up his own lies, he dismissed inconvenient facts as “fake news.” In this case the interviewer noted the FBI report that violent crime was down 6 percent last year, and murders were down 13 percent. Trump blurted, “I don’t believe it. No, it’s a lie. It’s fake news.”

Trump delivered his own fake news on many topics.  He falsely claimed the current case against him in New York is not a criminal trial. It is. He falsely claimed his administration rule over “the greatest economy in history?” Trump said we have 40,000 troops in South Korea. In fact, it’s fewer than 30,000.

Remember when trying to understand what Trump’s word salad gave you a headache? In the Time interview he was at it again, distorting and dissembling on subjects as wide ranging as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the auto industry. If you want to see what I mean, just click this link and see if you can make sense out of the stuff he says.  

What is obvious, and deeply frightening, is the fact that Trump didn’t dismiss the prospect on post-election violence “if we don’t win” and that he is inclined to pardon every one of the men and women who have been convicted of crimes committed in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Now, let’s review.

Using soldiers to round up immigrants and deport them?  – Check.

Supporting states to monitor and arrest women who have abortions?  – Check.

Pardons for rioters who took over the Capitol on his behalf? – Check

Constant lies, distortions and dissembling for political gain? – Check, check, and check.

This is the reality Trump has promised us should he win the 2024 election and occupy the Oval Office on January 20, 2025.   We should all be terrified