An Orchestrated Assault on the Dignity of America
It’s been 5 months since I last opened SubStack. I thought I had ran out of things to say. I thought that every grievance I held toward the state of our politics had already been vocalized elsewhere. I didn’t feel like I had anything new to contribute.
But I can’t keep staying silent. On the morning of April 5th, I awoke to news that five international UC San Diego students had their visas terminated, including a sixth student who was detained at the border and deported to their home country. The federal government has not provided an explanation for why this happened.
It’s difficult for me to even begin to articulate what an outrageous affront this is to both the UC San Diego community and the American people. To see students who have worked so hard to be where they are lose everything to the will and whim of a reckless administration hell-bent on tearing down the very foundations of our democracy is deeply disturbing. It runs counter to everything that this country has stood for in the past three centuries. A nation that prides itself on being a beacon of self-determination and justice should never allow a single man and his sycophants to abuse their power and deny lawful individuals their right to live and study here without due process.
The news of the visa revocations broke against the backdrop of a feverish week marked by historically unprecedented tariff hikes. On April 2nd, Trump stood in the White House Rose Garden and unveiled his sweeping new trade policy that saw some countries facing up to 60% levies. In yet another betrayal of centuries-old American ideals, the Trump Administration has turned its back against the rules-based international trading system that has shaped commerce flows for the past 80 years. Global markets sank to historical lows out of recessionary fears. But the short-term economic pains are not the main gripe I hold; what’s most disturbing is that the new policies are inherently self-defeating, as the tariffs will undermine U.S. influence in the world and cause the economy to shed countless jobs to protect a select few in narrow sectors.
Taken together, these events and the entirety of the first 11 weeks of the Trump Administration have amounted to an embarrassing demonstration of America’s moral and intellectual decline. Not only has our politics lost the ability to discern ethical right from wrong, we’ve also lost the ability to discern logical right from wrong. Policies are made and enacted based on gut feeling and intuition, by policymakers who harbor hateful and biased views toward the most vulnerable populations in this country. The valiant phrase “America First” has been used to justify these outlandish policies, but it has taken on a toxic meaning; those who use it believe there is a fine line that distinguishes “real Americans” from the others, and that those who don’t fit the mold are inherently enemies to the American cause. This exclusionary view of who belongs to the American body politic is grossly contradictory to the idea of “all men are created equal” that this country was founded and continues to rest upon.
If the trends we see today continue, inequalities will worsen and repression will grow. However, not all hope is lost. Though the American political system may be flawed, there are still myriad ways to course correct baked in. Though the rule of law has seen its power wane in the past few years, the legislative powers that Congress and the Judiciary hold can and should be used to limit Trump and his executive overreach. It’s heartening to see that the Senate has already voted to strike down Trump’s tariffs on Canada. More vigorous opposition must be organized to rein Trump in and contain him before he inflict more damage onto our democratic institutions.
Regardless of political affiliation or ideology, we should all be alarmed at the actions of our government. That’s why all of us who have the means to should take action now and speak up against this slide toward authoritarianism. We must defend the principles that have buttressed this country and its people for centuries, so that future generations can live in the kind of healthy and vibrant democracy that America promises to be.