The political logic of Trump's violent lawlessness

Jan 29, 2026
The Boston Globe article by Prof. Timothy Snyder.

"The moral horror wrought by President Trump's second term is incontrovertible...the aspiring tyrant looks for cracks in the system that can be pried open. One of these cracks is the border, where the country ends.

Because the law ends there, too, an obvious move for the tyrant is to turn the whole country into a border, where no rules apply. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin did this in the 1930s, with border zones and deportations preceding the Great Terror.

Adolph Hitler did it too, in 1938 Germany, with immigration raids that targeted undocumented Jews and forced them to flee the country. Trump, by his own admission, and that of his Cabinet members, is following the same playbook...

The border becomes the pretext to undo the law everywhere, at all times, and against anyone. It is the crack that can be opened."

Edited. Read the entire article in the Boston Globe.

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ninalanyon · 61-69, T

But Trump didn't do that. It has long been the case that anywhere within a certain distance of an international airport is considered border territory in the US. Presumably Congress assented to this.

Are immigration officials allowed to stop people in places wholly inside the U.S.?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency tasked with patrolling the U.S. border and areas that function like a border, claims a territorial reach much larger than you might imagine. A federal law says that, without a warrant, CBP can board vehicles and vessels and search for people without immigration documentation “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States.” These “external boundaries” include international land borders but also the entire U.S. coastline.

What is a “reasonable distance”?

The federal government defines a “reasonable distance” as 100 air miles from any external boundary of the U.S. So, combining this federal regulation and the federal law regarding warrantless vehicle searches, CBP claims authority to board a bus or train without a warrant anywhere within this 100-mile zone. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population, over 213 million people, reside within the region that CBP considers falling within the 100-mile border zone, according to the 2020 census. Most of the 10 largest cities in the U.S., such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, fall in this region. Some states, like Florida, lie entirely within this border band so their entire populations are impacted.

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/border-zone

The US has sleep walked into this tyranny. You just didn't have an executive that cared quite so little for the citizenry and the concept of checks and balances before; the basic tools for it have been there from the moment the constitution was created and they have been refined and enlarged over the succeeding years.

Here's a graphic showing cities that are within 100 miles of the international border:

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which includes the Border Patrol, is the largest law enforcement agency in the country. Their jurisdiction they claim spans 100 miles into the interior of the United States from any land or maritime border. Two-thirds of the U.S. population lives within this 100-mile border enforcement zone, including cities like Washington D.C., San Francisco CA, Chicago IL, New Orleans LA, Boston MA, & more.

https://www.southernborder.org/100_mile_border_enforcement_zone

JSul3 · 70-79

@ninalanyon I think the point is, that Trump is fostering the need for every individual who does not have a valid passport or a certified copy of their birth certificate on their person, be they child or adult, can be immediately taken into custody.....and perhaps be "disappeared."

He's begun with those who have a different complexion from the "lilly white" but even those, who voice a word of opposition, are subject to arrest, or even being killed.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@JSul3 That's true. But my point is that the constitution and successive governments provided the tools and they will still be there when Trump has gone. Will the tools be fixed afterwards or will those in power leave them for the next megalomaniac to pick up.