What if Trump invokes the Insurrection Act?

On his first day in office last January, wannabe king Trump declared a national emergency on our southern border granting him broad powers to repel a non-existent  "invasion." (In actual fact, the number of illegal border crossings is at an historic low.) Trump's declaration also gave the departments of Defense and Homeland Security 90 days to produce a report recommending that he invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. 

That report has now come due. Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act at any moment.

Invocation of the Insurrection Act grants a president power to deploy and use the armed forces against civilians on U.S. soil, whenever, wherever, and in whatever police-capacity he declares necessary to meet the declared "emergency." In this case, it's an imaginary "invasion" invented by the MAGA-propaganda machine. If the Act is invoked, it would be a massive power-grab by the MAGA-regime—the insurrectionists of 2020 using the Insurrection Act of 1807 to seize autocratic power enforced by the military. 

Normally, it is illegal for the military to act as police. But in living memory, various presidents  have had to use the Insurrection Act half a dozen times to protect Black school children from racist mobs in places like Little Rock Arkansas, and suppress ghetto uprisings in places like Detroit and Los Angeles. Those uses, however, were for limited, highly-visible, short-term events that were over in weeks, after which the troops were withdrawn. Since the MAGA-invented border emergency is fake, it can be prolonged for as long Trump wants and Fox News pretends that it's real. 

Historically, the courts have declared themselves powerless to question presidential use of the Insurrection Act. So stopping it will be up to We the People. 

No one actually knows how Trump/Musk will use the Insurrection Act. It appears likely though that it will include:

  • Combat, military-police, and surveillance units deployed to the border.

  • Massive increase in deportations/detentions.

  • Immigrant detention camps on Army bases and military logistic units used for transportation.

  • Increased surveillance of political opponents. 

  • ICE, CBP, FBI, and local police encouraged to operate under an, "anything goes," assumption of immunity/impunity.

As of now, however, it appears unlikely that the military will be used to suppress nonviolent protests—at least initially. But violent, or property-destructive actions are another matter, and covert use of provocateurs to justify suppression and arrests cannot be ruled out. 

The U.S. did not have spy agencies in 1807, so the Insurrection Act does not mention them. In theory, our alphabet soup of intelligence agencies (CIA, DIA, NSA, et al) are not allowed to spy on Americans or to operate against us on U.S. soil (though, of course, it's an open secret that they sometimes do so). The MAGA-regime may well assume that the Insurrection Act gives them license to widely use the agencies for surveillance and disruption of opposition organizations and retaliation against individual political opponents. 

Overall though, the Insurrection Act's biggest threat is fear and intimidation to paralyze political opposition to the MAGA-regime. Ultimately, like all autocrats, their end goal is to suppress all dissent and opposition to their corporate, nativist, nationalist, white supremacy agenda. 

But they are not there yet, and our job is to prevent them from imposing oligarchy on the American people. So we need to plan and organize strategically.

This is not the first time we as a people have faced this kind of illegal right-wing repression. During the Palmer Raids of 1919-1920, unions, labor activists and immigrants were attacked by police and mob violence and the full range of legal and extra-legal state repression. During the McCarthy era of the 1950s, the civil rights, labor, and peace movements, academia, public schools and libraries, and even Hollywood came under ruthless and brutal right-wing attack. Those were hard and dangerous times, but through courage and determination, our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents persisted, and prevailed, and overcame. 

We will do the same. 

If (when) the Insurrection Act is invoked, our plan is to initially respond with a 3 point program:

  1. Doing what we do best. ISF is a broad-based, big-tent, mass political organization and we will mount a political response by demanding that our elected representatives at all levels take action to defend our constitutional democracy. No excuses. No, "we can't do anything," whining. Do your job!

  2. It is our hope and expectation that invocation of the Insurrection Act will generate a national social media storm. We will do everything we can to encourage and help sustain that storm. (If you are social media savvy, we could really use your help.)

  3. Build the "May Day in the Bay" rally being organized by the Labor Council.  Thursday, May 1st, 4-7 PM, rally at San Francisco Civic Center, followed by a march. 

After May Day, we will have a better understanding of the political landscape. We will have a clearer idea of how Trump/Musk are implementing the Act; an assessment of initial public reaction; and a sense of institutional response. Based on that knowledge, we will plan and implement further steps to oppose Trumpism and defend our democracy. 

Let us be clear. Our people-power will not win quick victories. 

With or without the Insurrection Act, we face a long, protracted, struggle to save our constitutional Democracy. But make no mistake, we can–and we will–do so. 

Information sources:

Deep Dive, News BriefAlex MTrump, Insurrection Act, Dissent, Immigration, police, military, oligarchy, May Day, Democracy