To the editor,

It was only a matter of time.

The White house Press Secretary confirmed the president was not joking when he said he wants to illegally deport US citizens to foreign prisons to be tortured and beaten. She stated it would only be violent criminals; however, given their track record of sending mostly nonviolent immigrants and failing to listen to judges’ orders to return nonviolent migrants who were deported illegally, we can safely assume this would not be limited to violent criminals and likely not limited to criminals at all. This would be reserved for the political enemies of our benevolent leader.

Those proud MAGA waving Americans can finally enjoy watching their fellow countrymen illegally thrown in prison for thought crimes and having differing opinions than our great annointed one.

Who needs due process? The Secretary of Homeland Security has declared "ICE determines who is an illegal immigrant." Not some pesky judge trying to follow the constitution.

This was inevitable. The president told us he would do this. This is what authoritarianism looks like. The only thing I am surprised by is the silence of Americans, particularly the same Americans who said they loved this country and the freedoms afforded by its constitution. There was a time republicans did care about the constitution. Now it is just a bumpersticker slogan.

The slow slide into full on dictatorship is picking up pace. Better strap in. We are just getting started.

Jacob Proue

Spring Valley