WASHINGTON, D.C. Civil liberties in the United States are facing a fresh wave of violations, as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and political dissenters, sparking nationwide concern and a mounting chorus of legal challenges.
Hundreds of immigrants are now held in federal prisons, under conditions originally designed for convicted criminals. According to The Guardian, detainees report moldy food, used underwear, overcrowded cells, and denial of medical care, treatment that immigrant advocates call “inhumane and illegal.”
“This isn’t a policy,” said one rights advocate. “This is punishment without cause.”
At the same time, the administration is accused of weaponizing immigration laws to silence dissent. Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist at Columbia University, was detained and now faces deportation under a Cold War-era provision, despite holding legal permanent resident status. Momodou Taal, a Cornell graduate student, fled the country after being instructed to surrender to ICE. Legal scholars warn these actions mirror McCarthy-era suppression tactics.
Meanwhile, Executive Order 14168, signed earlier this year, has drawn heavy fire from LGBTQ+ advocates and civil rights attorneys. The order permits the transfer of transgender women to men’s prisons, denies gender-affirming care, and has led to the revocation of passports for some transgender citizens. Federal courts have already issued temporary injunctions, citing potential violations of the Eighth and Fifth Amendments.
In another blow to human rights, family separations and deportations without due process are again surging. One Venezuelan mother was deported without her 2-year-old daughter, now held in a Texas detention facility. In another tragic case, a gay asylum seeker was wrongly flagged as a gang member due to tattoos and deported to a high-risk prison in El Salvador.
Legal experts and international observers are warning that these trends mark a dangerous escalation in the erosion of constitutional rights, particularly for marginalized communities.
“This isn’t just policy gone wrong,” one immigration lawyer said. “This is systemic and deliberate.”
