Provocative New Ad Warns: If Trump can deport immigrants without due process, Who’s Next?

A new ad being shared by Democratic leaders is gaining momentum online, bringing to life a dystopian future that, for many, is already unfolding.

The ad depicts two young lovers wrapping up a date when their romantic evening is suddenly interrupted by unmarked “law enforcement agents.” The officers begin arresting the woman based solely on her appearance as a Latinx person. The fear between the couple is palpable. Then, a new character enters: their Republican congressman. As the man protests, insisting that the woman is a U.S. citizen born in the country, the congressman coldly replies that he “doesn’t care” because she “looks like one of them.” He then tells the man that she’ll have plenty of company in the prison in El Salvador, where she’s being sent.

One of the leaders to share the ad was California Congressman Eric Swalwell.

Who is behind the ad?

The ad was released by the Progressive Action Fund, a group known for producing what it calls “hard-hitting” political ads. The organization focuses its advertising budget on swing districts. This ad is one of many designed to evoke a sense of the absurd. From the dialogue to the camera angles, every element is crafted to highlight the extreme nature of the scenario. It aims to provoke discomfort and disgust, laying bare the inhumanity of the policy it critiques.

The Importance of Due Process

As the White House continues to push an agenda of mass deportation—without adhering to the fundamental due process rights guaranteed by the Constitution—some legal experts warn that stripping these rights from immigrants could leave everyone, including U.S. citizens, more vulnerable. All people in the U.S. are entitled to certain due process protections, including habeas corpus, which guards against unlawful detention.

Ensuring that immigrants retain their due process rights is critical to protecting those same rights for citizens. Because if those rights are eroded, what’s to stop authorities from detaining and deporting U.S. citizens without trial? This wouldn’t be unprecedented. Under President Eisenhower’s immigration initiative known as Operation Wetback, more than 250,000 people, including U.S. citizens, were deported in a single year. The number of U.S. citizens who were picked up in the streets remains unknown because everything happened so quickly that they were unable to bring evidence of citizenship with them.

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