The recent controversial arrests, detainments, and deportations of several non-permanent U.S. residents struck a chord with some AllSides team members. Here’s what they said.

Most of the following reflects the opinions of individuals on the AllSides team. They do not represent the company’s official position.

Scott McDonald, CTO and co-founder (Center bias)

Can we please come together as a company against “disappearing” people off the streets without warrants or due process? How about a feature on “political prisoners” or “free speech prisoners” or “banana republic watch”?

And I want it noted for the record to all the people that complained non-stop about tech "censorship" over the past 4 years - that still wasn't censorship - THIS is censorship. Do we get the difference now? Is it coming through?

Krystal Woodworth, Marketing Communications Manager (Lean Left)

I was raised in a very conservative Republican home, where we discussed politics and current events frequently. Fox News, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh were on the TV or Radio constantly. I deeply value free people, free market capitalism, a balanced budget, a limited local government, and personal responsibility.

I was in college when I realized elected Republican politicians were not implementing policies that support those principles, and I left the party. 

The political right often boasts their support for the U.S. Constitution, claiming it is essential to limiting government and protecting individual freedom. They have “3%” and “don’t tread on me” bumper stickers. They share quotes on social media like “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.” Alongside these, you will usually find “MAGA” and “Thin blue line” stickers, which made me wonder – what happens when the self-proclaimed defenders of freedom don’t recognize tyranny within the borders of our own country? 

Under the Trump administration, immigration law is being enforced in an unprecedented way, outside what the constitution allows. It is being used to crush political dissent in violation of the first amendment, and it is being done without due process in violation of the fourth.

Immigration and foreign policy are undeniable complex issues. These detainments and deportations however, are simply inhumane treatment of our neighbors. 

• Legal immigrants being detained and deported for pro-Palestinian activism
• American citizens being detained without a warrant 
• The harassment of Native Americans
• Human beings are going missing in our care

This is what tyranny looks like and we’re all culpable. The left, for years, has marginalized the experiences and hardships of those on the right by assuming they were too dumb or too bigoted to include in serious policy discussion. For a group of people that considers themselves highly emotionally intelligent, they have totally failed to see that by invalidating, belittling, and villainizing half of the country, they alienated and radicalized the parts of them they objected to the most. Let’s also not forget that the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations all promised - and were given the opportunity - to improve our extremely flawed immigration system. Each administration chose to sustain (and in some ways, bolster) the policies that enable the current administration’s actions. 

Potentially the saddest thing about all of this is that we have seen this story before, and the ends will not justify the means. When the current administration is done, not a single problem supporters hoped to address will be solved. Immigration - lawful or unlawful - isn’t the reason why the drug problem is bad. It isn’t the reason why the economy is bad. It isn’t the reason why the schools are bad. It isn’t the reason why your life is bad. 

We have taken a web of incredibly complex socio-economic and policy issues, and reduced them to “immigrants bad.” Most of you will never realize you were on the wrong side of history – but your grandkids will. 

Olivia Geno, News and Bias Assistant (Lean Right)

As someone who supports secure borders and the rule of law, I also recognize that law without liberty is tyranny. Detaining people without due process, or punishing them for political speech, however controversial, is fundamentally un-American. Conservatives have long stood for limited government, individual rights, and the Constitution. These principles are not conditional; they apply regardless of whether we agree with the cause in question. If we abandon them now, we undermine the very freedoms we claim to defend. This is not law and order — it is government overreach, and history has shown us where that leads.

Evan Wagner, Product Manager (Lean Left)

Having studied the decline of liberal democracy in the US and elsewhere for several years now, my concern has only grown. This is by far the most perilous moment for American democracy since the Civil War. That said, I get why many people who don’t dedicate their lives to this subject are not feeling the high stakes like I am: modern authoritarian efforts are defined not by blatant tyrannical behavior, but by a careful harnessing of ambiguity.

But when I watched the video of Rumeysa Ozturk’s arrest the other day, it didn’t feel nearly as ambiguous as it usually does.

I encourage you to take a minute to read this article about Ozturk’s detention, then come back here. It’s a catalogue of actions that make a mockery of due process:

• ICE knew a federal judge would order them to keep Ozturk in Massachusetts, a requirement established by judicial precedent in 1947. So they moved her out of state before a judge could issue the order.
• They imprisoned her in Louisiana, a state Ozturk does not live in and has nothing to do with, to be prosecuted in a strongly conservative jurisdiction. 
• Ozturk reported she had not been notified of any charges against her nor allowed to speak with a lawyer.

An afternoon’s worth of research suggests to me that Trump’s defenders may have an angle (assuming this is a deportation case rather than a criminal case) that the actions following the revocation of her visa were not unconstitutional. But they certainly don’t have an angle that she is worthy of deportation in the first place. Ozturk wrote a single op-ed calling for Tufts to divest from Israel. Nobody has identified any instance when she participated in an unruly, let alone violent, protest. It’s clear as day that this was a punishment for her speech, and though she is not an American citizen, we’ve all read the poem.

If you’re worried about polarization and therefore hesitant about staking out uncompromising positions against unconstitutional actions by Trump… that's not a real tradeoff. It’s neither helpful nor correct to insult Trump voters as bigoted, and everyone should be prepared to accept democratically legitimate policies they don’t prefer. But never compromise on the Constitution. Its whole point is to exist on its own level, a step removed from politics, so we can appeal to it at times like these.

Emanuel Macuixtle, Content and Research Intern (Left) 

I have often been apolitical when it comes to my own identity, labeling myself first as an American and second as a Mexican. However, the more I see and hear from family and in the news, about the sheer abundance of ‘abduction-style’ deportations ranging from pro-Palestine protesters to your average immigrant…the more I question my own identity. 

The treatment of immigrants is well documented:

• The forced sterilization of Mexican women, or what is known as Genocide, as defined by the United Nations Article 2 Section 4, is also well known story amongst Hispanics. 
• The, quite frankly, inhumane conditions that immigrants are kept in at Detention Centers are a well known fact amongst Hispanics as well.
• Of course, there is also the long and heated debate amongst Hispanics over the effects of colonialism and the destruction of our culture as a result of it; what many researchers are now also labeling Genocide. 

As such, I am not surprised by the natural expansion of this treatment towards other immigrant groups, outside of Mexicans. My people really aren’t surprised by the lack of due-process or by the targeting of pro-Palestine protestors. We aren’t surprised by any of these potentially unconstitutional acts, because we are used to it…that’s our history. 

And yet, I can’t help but become disheartened and angry. It isn’t enough to just violate our rights, we must also be blamed for everything as well. 'Immigrants are the reason for an increase in crime.' 'Immigrants are weakening the economy.' 'Immigrants are poisoning the blood of America.' How else could the government try to justify these actions? 

For the record, I am not an immigrant, but I am a Mexican-American and I cannot stand to see more harm towards my people. We may be used to the mistreatment, but that does not make it right, and that does not mean other groups have to face the same struggles. I pause to ponder on how much more the United States of America thinks they can push my people without repercussions. I pause and breathe in, and know that in due time, we will ultimately win. 

Henry A. Brechter, Editor-in-chief (Center)

Our content will always support the right to speak freely and protest peacefully. We hope other media outlets will share our support for these essential pillars of our democratic republic.

Image by Diane Krauthamer/Flickr (license)