Since President Trump took his oath of office on January 20, the havoc he has unleashed on the very foundations of our government has been catastrophic. 

Under his leadership, scores of federal workers from essential agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services have been fired unjustly. National secrets and war plans have been embarrassingly leaked, posing grave threats to the security of soldiers. The stock market is now in free fall and many experts project that a recession is looming—marking a stunning reversal from the improving economy that President Trump first inherited and promised.

Beyond this, by claiming the use of unprecedented federal authority, Trump is positioning himself as a strongman authoritarian with no regard for the Constitution. There is no greater manifestation of the danger he poses to free speech and democracy than through his relentless attacks on journalism.

When Donald Trump launched his reelection campaign back in late 2022, he made it clear from the start that combating illegal immigration was going to be one of his top priorities. As of now, he’s made good on that promise: according to “The Guardian,” more immigrants have been arrested in February 2025 than any other month for the past seven years. However, in the process, Trump has also been targeting legal immigrants simply because they used their First Amendment right to free speech. 

On March 25, a group of plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested  Tufts University PhD student Rümseya Öztürk in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts. The footage of the arrest was sickening: a man grabbed Öztürk, who then screamed out for help, before other undercover officers swarmed around her and led her away. The Trump administration justifies this assault by claiming that Öztürk, a Turkish international who was here legally on a student visa, had engaged in “pro-Hamas” activity. 

Öztürk is currently in a federal detention facility in Louisiana, and the administration appears to be openly flouting a court order that says she must stay in Massachusetts. What is most worrying about the case is how Trump officials are clearly ignoring the constitutionally-protected civil liberties granted to everyone in the U.S. in their crackdown on immigrants.

So far, no credible information has come up that even remotely suggests Öztürk supported terrorist organizations like Hamas. The administration has instead singled in on how she co-wrote an op-ed in “The Tufts Daily” that criticised Tuft University’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza. 

If her detention is based on the fact that she expressed her own opinion in a student newspaper, then it amounts to an extraordinary breach of the First Amendment. It demonstrates that people with opinions that run counter to Donald Trump’s will likely be targeted. 

After this shocking episode, who else will fall under Trump’s hammer? Green card holders who post content critical of the administration on Instagram? Those who attend peaceful protests? Journalists covering the White House?  

Donald Trump hopes to use the powers of the Presidency to turn himself into a dictator. His justification for blatantly ignoring judges’ orders like in the case of Öztürk? A proclamation: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” In an interview with NBC news, he was open to the idea that he could run for a third term (which is prohibited by the 22nd Amendment) by having his Vice President, J.D. Vance, win the Presidency in 2028 and pass the role onto Trump. 

If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s almost exactly what Putin did to maintain control of Russia (the Russian Constitution similarly banned a President from running for a third term). Take into account how he instigated the January 6 insurrection that nearly led to a coup d’état—injuring 140 police officers in the process—and Donald Trump’s disregard for democratic norms becomes devastatingly clear.

The media acts as the lifeblood of democracy. It reports on political malpractice, uncovers the massive frauds that harm consumers and holds our elected leaders accountable. Even as a school news outlet, we do our best to keep the student body informed, to advocate for all students and to make sure that those who hold power do not abuse it. 

We do so without the fear that we will get targeted for our work. We do it without the fear that we will get arrested like Rumseya Öztürk. We do it knowing that the right of the free press is protected under the Constitution. Yet when the President himself refuses to abide by the foundational principles that our nation was built upon in his takedown on the media, it chills our free speech. 

In this era of cataclysmic political instability, we need journalism more than ever.  Depressingly, Trump’s continued attacks on the media, from the expulsion of AP Reporters from the White House Press Pool to his suing of “The Des Moines News Register” for unfavorable election polling, are classic tools that dictators use to take control and silence dissent. His assault on Massachusetts and education is continuing; hundreds of visas for college students were recently revoked without explanation, and Harvard has had $2.2 billion of its funds frozen. In spite of all this, we must fight back. We cannot bend to political pressure and allow America to turn into a fascistic nation-state led by a strongman. Now, more than ever before, it’s essential we speak up and remember: democracy dies in silence.