Recent events further prove that the United States has scant respect for the rule of law, except when it serves its own interests. Throughout its history, it has repeatedly taken the law into its own hands with impunity.
Since its occupation of indigenous lands, white settlers were placed above the law, while the law was applied selectively against people of colour and immigrants. Legal frameworks were shaped to absolve white perpetrators of atrocities while blaming minorities and immigrants for unrest, casting them as authors of their own suffering.
History appears to be repeating itself under Donald Trump’s administration, where immigrants are targeted not for crimes but because of race, regardless of whether they are naturalised citizens or citizens by birth. Recent reports indicate that even visa holders are being deported.
America’s disregard for civilian life is not new. It dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki when Japan was already on the brink of surrender, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. It waged prolonged wars in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, only to be defeated by the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge.
The pattern continued in Afghanistan, where it lost to the Taliban, and in Iraq, where fabricated claims of weapons of mass destruction were used to justify an invasion that killed hundreds of thousands. Similar tactics were employed in Guatemala in 1954, Cuba in 1961, Chile in 1973, Argentina in 1976 and Panama in 1989.
America has also practised state terrorism through unilateral sanctions against countries it labels as threats, including Venezuela and Iraq, with objectives that include domination and resource extraction. These actions are justified under the banner of democracy, human rights and freedom, while serving imperial ambitions reinforced by more than 800 military bases worldwide.
Under Trump, the situation has become more dire. His administration has empowered ICE, granting officers sweeping authority to harass, arrest and kill with near-total impunity.
The killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis exemplifies this lawlessness. Officials labelled her a domestic terrorist and claimed she used her vehicle as a weapon. Trump and Vice-President JD Vance echoed this narrative, while the agent involved described her death as a tragedy of her own making.
This reflects a disturbing normalisation of deception, victim-blaming and unchecked state violence. America is no longer safe — not for immigrants, not for citizens of colour, and not even for white Americans.
Citizenship no longer guarantees constitutional protection. Trump has shown open contempt for legal safeguards, while Congress, particularly Republican lawmakers, has enabled this erosion through silence and complicity.
The public can no longer rely on elected representatives who prioritise party loyalty over public interest. The result is a population living in fear, subjected to authoritarian practices that strip away fundamental rights.
Trump’s domestic and foreign policies have shifted from soft power to belligerence, driven by imperial ambition and personal authority. America is no longer the land of the free. Its people live in fear and apprehension, with citizenship offering little security or protection.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
