Recent actions from President Trump are causing people to sound alarms on the security of America’s democracy. Since President Trump entered office, citizens have compared the President’s actions to those of a dictator.
Since Trump entered office, education, healthcare, immigration laws, government and employment have faced changes. The effect of these will be harmful, but others worry about what the bigger picture looks like.
The National Guard and ICE
After entering office, Trump increased the budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand immigration crackdowns.
Since ICE raids began, citizens have noticed an increased ICE presence in large Latino communities and workplaces such as farms and construction sites. The raids are controversial due to reports of some ICE agents not explaining the reason for detainment, using unlabeled vehicles, wearing masks and not checking for citizenship verification.
Protests began in different cities, especially Los Angeles in response to the ICE raids.
In June, President Trump authorized the mobilization of 4,000 California National Guard troops to combat the protests. Shortly after, he authorized the mobilization of 700 Marines to Los Angeles. On the same day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed an emergency request for their removal.
Trump vocalized his disdain for the protests through Truth Social posts, naming Newsom “incompetent” and calling the protests violent.
In September, a judge settled in Newsom’s favor, stating that President Trump and Secretary of War Peter Hegseth violated the Posse Comitatus Act – an act that removed the military from law enforcement.
“The people of California won much needed accountability against Trump’s ILLEGAL militarization of an American City,” said the governor’s office in an X post.
Los Angeles is not the only location Trump has his eye on.
In August, Trump declared a crime emergency in D.C., mobilizing 800 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.
“They will remain there until law and order has been restored in the district, as determined by the president — standing as the gatekeepers of our great nation’s capital,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson in a meeting with the Pentagon press corps.
Washington, D.C’s violent crime hit its lowest in 30 years in 2024. The Council on Criminal Justice also reported that Washington, D.C. had lower violent crime rates for the first half of 2025 in comparison to 2024.
President Trump has also threatened to send the National Guard to Democratic-led cities such as New York, Chicago and Baltimore in the name of crime, despite the cities’ crime statistics. The Trump administration isn’t looking to stop there either, though.
“I would love if we did this in every big American city because I think that American citizens deserve to live safely in these big cities,” Vice President J.D Vance said.
The last time the National Guard was sent to U.S soil without a governor’s approval was in 1989. George W. Bush sent 1,000 military troops to the Virgin Islands to combat violence in St. Croix following Hurricane Hugo.
Racial profiling deemed lawful
The legal win for Newsom fell short after a Sept. 8 Supreme Court ruling gave permission to ICE, allowing racial profiling in order to help immigration raids.
Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo started when a group of Latino California residents and workers organizations sued the government, claiming to be subject to illegal stops in Los Angeles. After back and forth in the appeals courts, the Trump administration asked for an emergency appeal, resulting in the Supreme Court ruling. The ruling overturns decisions made to block ICE from detaining citizens based on race, language, occupation, and location.
Los Angeles has one of the largest Latino populations in the nation. Such rulings have dangerous outcomes for immigrants across the nation.
Voting accessibility and the SAVE Act
In March, President Trump signed an executive order with changes to voting registration.
The order demands that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) change the national mail voter registration form. The change would require applicants to show a U.S document proving U.S. citizenship before registering to vote.
The order also lists the necessary documents for voter registration, but a simple birth certificate is not mentioned. The order also calls for states and federal agencies to share data with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This data would contain information such as immigrant status and social security records.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. paused the order about a month later.
“Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections,” wrote Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in a 120-page opinion.
After passing in the House, Congress is currently debating the SAVE Act. This would require voters to prove U.S citizenship for voter registration.
“We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections, but it’s not been something that is easily provable,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference introducing the SAVE Act.
Trump has also mentioned that he wants to ban mail-in voting. The Constitution does not give him the power to do so; however, constitutional law has not shied him away yet.
Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Trump is pushing for Republicans to draw out new GOP districts to ensure republican control of Congress. Democratic leaders are figuring out ways to fight against it, but it still leads to questions about ethics. Such political gerrymandering leads to partisan advantage and lessens the voting power of state citizens.
Alarming language
President Trump uses harmful language towards specific groups.
In 2023, Trump said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” at a rally in New Hampshire, a quote eerily similar to a 20th-century German dictator. “Blood poisoning” is a term used by Adolf Hitler in his manifesto “Mein Kampf” in the topic of immigration and mixing races.
In 2024, Trump said he doesn’t look at immigrants as humans, but as animals instead. Trump later doubled down in the 2024 presidential debate against Kamala Harris, claiming that Haitian immigrants were eating animals. The dehumanization of targeted groups is a similar tactic to that of the Nazis.
During his presidential campaign, Trump used strange wording at a Christian event in Florida, telling voters they’d never have to vote again if he was elected. Since his return to office, Trump expressed interest in a third term.
In a meeting with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump entertained the topic of holding off on an election if the nation was at war.
The red brick road
A dictator is someone who rules a country with absolute power, unbound by a constitution or laws. Tactics of creating public fear, controlling the media, seizing control and power are actions of a dictator. Trump has made orders and statements that go against the U.S Constitution such as threatening birthright citizenship, media censorship, and limiting checks and balances. Going against the U.S Constitution breaches the presidential oath and directly threatens our democracy.
The good news
The good news is that resistance is still at way. Some states, governors, mayors and judges are doing what they can to block orders or sue the administration against unlawful or harmful orders. Protests against the administration continue to organize across the country and globally.
