1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

On April 14th, the Trump administration openly defied a unanimous order from the Supreme Court by refusing to bring back a Venezuelan migrant they knowingly sent to a torture prison in El Salvador by mistake. During a court hearing for Rumeysa Ozturk, a student detained by ICE for writing an op-ed, a federal court judge raised similar concerns about the administration refusing to adhere to his orders and instigating a “constitutional crisis.” Since Day 1, the Trump administration has been consistently eroding the constitutional separation of powers and system of checks and balances. They have… • Repeatedly stonewalled federal district judges in court proceedings, defied orders, and threatened to impeach them • Attempted to revoke birthright citizenship • Usurped Congress’s constitutional “power of the purse” to block mandated federal funding to essential programs • Violated the First Amendment and due process rights of students and activists • Allowed an unelected billionaire and a team of hackers unregulated access to secure government data, including sensitive information about US citizens and businesses, to be used for unknown purposes • Expressed interest in sending US citizens to a gulag in El Salvador • Invoked the Alien Enemies Act, outside of a legally required Declaration of War, to disappear migrants without due process • Invoked emergency powers to bypass Congress’s constitutional authority over tariffs and trade policy • Regularly used an unapproved commercial chat app to discuss military operations and other classified information • Refused to enforce federal regulations and bypassed the required “notice and comment” period to unlawfully repeal others With the Trump administration’s repeated defiance of laws and judicial rulings, it is clear that we are firmly in a constitutional crisis. Trump and his team of government cronies believe they are above the law and will continue to harm Americans and dismantle our democracy as long as they are in power. Congress must forcefully act now to reclaim their co-equal role in our government, protect the rule of law, and stop the Trump administration’s destruction of our government and our nation. Thank you for your time.