I didn’t serve this country to watch it slide into dictatorship cosplay. That’s where I’m starting, because as a Navy veteran, as a Latina, and as someone who literally studies authoritarian systems in my PhD program, I know exactly what this moment smells like. And let me tell you – it stinks of state-sponsored terror disguised as “law and order.” Right now, across major cities, thousands are hitting the streets in a march to protest the new rounds of ICE raids.
The raids are sanctioned by an administration that keeps trying to outdo itself in cruelty with Trump ordering the National Guard and even the Marines into Los Angeles like it is Fallujah and not the second largest city in the United States. And yet, much of the media frames these protests as “unrest” or “chaos,” conveniently ignoring the very real terror communities are facing at the hands of the administration.
Let’s be very clear: this is not normal.
The ICE Raids Are State-Sanctioned Ethnic Cleansing
ICE raids have always been part of a larger apparatus of racialized policing, but under Trump, they’re being weaponized with the precision of psychological warfare. The latest wave of raids, which claim to target “criminal aliens” (a phrase already soaked in propaganda), are nothing more than publicized fear campaigns aimed at terrorizing immigrant communities and Latino communities specifically. And the media is eating it up, with CNN and others amplifying the administration’s narrative while running endless footage of heavily armed agents storming neighborhoods.
We know this playbook. It’s designed to send a message far beyond the people who are actually detained. The goal isn’t just to deport people – it’s to destabilize entire neighborhoods. It’s to make parents too scared to send their kids to school, too afraid to go to work, to the store, or the doctor. It’s psychological occupation, plain and simple.
And let’s not pretend these raids are surgical or targeted. ICE has long operated under a policy of collateral arrests, meaning if they knock on your neighbor’s door and you answer, you’re now in custody too. This is not “law enforcement.” This is a dragnet system intentionally designed to remind Latinos that our very existence in this country is always conditional, always precarious, always one knock away from destruction.
Deploying the National Guard Isn’t “Crowd Control.” It’s a Display of Power
Then we have Trump calling in the National Guard and now even floating Marines to “restore order” in Los Angeles after massive protests erupted and people continue to march in response to ICE raids and his wider anti-immigrant policies.
Let’s call this what it is: authoritarian escalation.
Deploying the military against civilians is straight out of the dictator starter kit. These troops aren’t being sent to “keep the peace” – they’re being sent to break spirits, to intimidate, and to lay the groundwork for normalizing military intervention in domestic civil unrest.
As a veteran, this enrages me. I signed up to defend the Constitution, not to see American troops used like private security for a fascist-leaning strongman with a spray tan. The military exists to protect the people, not police them. Any administration that blurs that line is actively eroding the very foundation of civilian democracy.
The Media Machine Is Part of the Operation
Authoritarianism doesn’t just thrive on state power – it feeds off the media’s complicity. Every raid, every show of force, every militarized operation becomes content. The administration knows this. They stage the early morning raids, the armored vehicles, the dramatic arrests, because they understand how it will play on cable news loops and social media feeds. Networks like CNN and Fox package the footage into fear-mongering segments, repeating the administration’s talking points about “restoring order” or “cracking down on illegal crime.” Even when reporters attempt balance, the constant imagery of armed agents and handcuffed immigrants becomes its own propaganda, normalizing state violence while dehumanizing those being targeted. The media’s focus on violence when covering a march, despite protestors being overwhelmingly peaceful, underlines the ICE propaganda about “dangerous” immigrants.
And it doesn’t stop at the images – the headlines themselves are part of the problem. Take “Florida’s new program protecting ICE agents,” which media outlets are parroting with little to no scrutiny. When Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey says things like, “If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, then jail. If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital, then jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs… If you throw a brick, a fire bomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at because we will kill you, grave graveyard dead” – that is not law enforcement, that is state-sponsored terror being broadcast as tough talk. Yet headlines frame it as a “public safety initiative,” giving violent rhetoric the appearance of legitimacy. This is how authoritarian narratives spread – not just through what is said, but through how the media chooses to present it.
For Latinos in America, This Is a Dangerous Precedent
For Latinos, this moment isn’t just political – it’s existential. We are watching in real-time how quickly decades of supposed “progress” can unravel when power changes hands. We’ve always lived with the understanding that our place in this country is fragile. But this administration is ripping off the mask and showing just how deeply white supremacy remains embedded in state institutions. The message is clear: citizenship papers don’t protect you, military service doesn’t protect you, generations of contributions to this country don’t protect you.
We are not witnessing simple “immigration enforcement.” We’re witnessing state violence targeting Black and brown bodies, wrapped in the language of patriotism, and sanctioned by an increasingly authoritarian government. This isn’t about borders. It isn’t even about showing up for a march, ICE, or immigration. This is about race, power, and control. It’s about reinforcing a racial hierarchy where whiteness holds exclusive rights to safety, dignity, and belonging – and where everyone else can be made disposable at any moment, with the full weight of the state behind it. The raids, the militarized streets, the dehumanizing headlines – they are all designed to remind us that inclusion was always conditional.
This Fight Is Far From Over: Today We March Against ICE, Trump, and Authoritarianism
As a veteran, I believe in fighting for this country – but fighting for it doesn’t mean letting authoritarianism take root. It means standing up to the systems that weaponize fear against our communities.
We are not guests here. We built this country. Our labor, our culture, our families – they are part of the fabric of this nation. And we are not going quietly.
So keep marching. Keep protesting. Keep organizing. Keep telling our real stories. Because when regimes try to silence dissent, our voices become the most dangerous weapon they fear.
And to this administration? We see exactly what you’re doing.
And we’re not backing down.
