Every so often, the levers of power in this country begin speaking a strange moral language, one impatient with persons and fluent in categories rather than faces. It speaks of order while practicing cruelty. It names enemies while erasing faces.
We live in such a season now.
Ordinary rights are being suspended for migrants and asylum seekers—many of whom entered legally, filed their papers, and waited years for hearings this government never scheduled. Agents are now authorized to detain and deport in churches, courthouses, and schools. Coercive force is normalized in the name of order.
