--and new signs.
Capitol Grounds, Topeka, Kansas
The one good thing I can say about the Trump Administration: it provides a multitude of ideas for creating such signs. All of the signs I use in these protests are created by me from the intersection of my mind and the day's news.
If you don't follow the news, these signs concern the fact that Trump sent over 200 individuals to an infamous prison in El Salvador without allowing them to contest the deportation in a hearing or trial. This was an unconstitutional action. It also disobeyed a direct court order. After the planes left the ground, a court intervened to order Trump to have the planes and the people on them returned. This order was willfully ignored. Since then, several courts, INCLUDING THE US SUPREME COURT have ordered Trump to facilitate the return of these people. Those orders have so far been refused, and one of the courts is about to declare the administration in criminal contempt. It should also be noted that these people were deported directly to prison because they are alleged to be members of a notorious gang. At least two of the men are known to not be members. Undoubtedly many others are not as well, but of course, we don't know for certain and neither does the administration because due process was not followed. The criteria ICE et al. used to determine their affiliation were idiotic. One of the men known to be innocent was picked up because he had a tattoo of two crowns and was wearing a Chicago Bulls cap--PROOF of his guilt, according to Mario Rubio--Trump's secretary of state. Many of Trump's fans have been applauding these actions. Another words, they approve of obvious fascistic actions. This isn't what functioning democracies do--send people to prison without a trial? Even a little worse--the administration initially said that one of the men sent to El Salvador, Albrego Garcia, was innocent and his removal was a mistake. YET THEY REFUSE TO MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO RETRIEVE HIM. This has been an utter disregard for Law, for human rights, of decency. Trump has mulled over sending US citizens to this prison--which would be its own breech of the Constitution. So, these actions portend even worse in the future, though make no mistake, the ones already committed are beyond the pale. These are the opening salvos of a president determined to install himself as America's Putin--the man Trump esteems above all others.
And as regards Marco Rubio--as a son of Cuban immigrants, his full-throated, pit bull-like defense of Trump's unconstitutional, inhumane treatment of immigrants--including legal immigrants--is particularly galling. Originally, I thought his was one of the very few decent appointments Trump made. But no, he's a shrill supporter of all of Trump's actions--however illegal or vicious or counterproductive--especially the mistreatment of immigrants. What does this make "little Marco?"
This is not a self-portrait. I gave my camera up to a fellow protester.
