WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks before signing the Laken Riley Act, the first piece of legislation passed during his second term in office, in the East Room of the White House on January 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. Jason Riley and Allyson Philips, the parents of 22-year-old Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student who was murdered in 2024 by an undocumented immigrant, attended the signing ceremony. Among other measures, the law directs law enforcement authorities to detain and deport immigrants who are accused but not yet convicted of specific crimes, if they are in the country illegally. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

‘This is literally fascism’: Trump allegedly wants to deport war protestors for freedom of speech and expression

By now, most of us are aware of what Donald Trump’s fascist M.O is, but he somehow keeps sinking even lower. Lately, he wants to literally deport war protestors for exercising freedom for speech.

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Trump has a history of not tolerating basically anyone who doesn’t fall lockstep in line with his far-right ideology. Anyone who supports the sovereignty of Palestine is basically branded a Hamas loyal extremist. As said by NBC News, Trump and scores of other Republicans falsely label pro-palestine activists as ‘extremists,’ and have been trying to silence and imprison them ever since. As you may know, many political pundits are using the October 7th attack on Israel as justification for Palestinians not deserving liberation.

According to Mother Jones, Trump recently signed an executive order expanding the genocidal capabilities of his deportation policies. The executive order that is stupidly titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” is an extension of the Muslim travel ban Trump made back in 2017 during his first term. This time, it gives his administration the power to not only ban immigration from specific countries, but also deport individuals based on their politics.

Pro-Palestine activists, particularly those on student visas, are singled out and could be deported if found violating the order. As twitter user @fleetwoodmaxpng points out, “this is literally fascism.” 100% correct.

Words can’t describe how apocalyptic this entire thing is. We’re currently facing one of the largest censorship campaigns in history against pro-Palestine solidarity that extends far across the globe. As reported by AP News, Germany’s been enforcing a brutal crackdown on protesters, sending out police squadrons against people simply expressing solidarity. And of course, Columbia university was subject to numerous police raids and attacks on pro-Palestine activists as well throughout 2024.

We’re currently in the throes of a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel that seems somewhat fragile, given the atmosphere where Israel is hellbent on destroying Palestine by extreme force. Trump’s order violates free speech, the right to protest, and creates a nightmarish Orwellian surveillance state in which people are terrified to fight for the rights of others. We don’t need this now, we don’t need this ever.

Of course, this order is not exactly new, as the sentiments for it have been around for a while. Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened protesters back in October 19, 2023 that the U.S would “revoke the visas” of those presumed to be ‘associated’ with Hamas (Mother Jones). But seeing it formalized into a much larger policy is scary. This is going to get a lot of vulnerable people imprisoned or worse.

Things seem dire, but there’s always hope. We can push back against Trump’s fascism and fight for the freedom of Palestine and vulnerable people everywhere.


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Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (he/they) writes about media criticism, race studies, intersectional feminism, and left-wing politics. He has been working with digital media and writing about pop culture since 2014. He enjoys video games, movies, and TV, and often gets into playful arguments with friends over Shonen anime and RPGs. He has experience writing for The Mary Sue, Cracked.com, Bunny Ears, Static Media, and The Crimson White. His Twitter can be found here: https://twitter.com/8bitStereo