The Trump Administration and the Use of Labels to Justify its Behavior

I've noticed a pattern being followed by the officials in the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. Let's call it "justification by label". The idea is that the officials can attach a label to someone, and that label justifies the administration's actions regarding that person. For instance, Trump signed an executive order regarding antisemitism. As a result, foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities can arbitrarily be labeled as having done something that is “antisemitic," which then automatically justifies their deportation. For instance, Rumeysa Öztürk was caught in this situation simply for coauthoring an op-ed that called on Tufts University to recognize the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Trump administration officials, in this case, Secretary of Deportations Marco Rubio, act as the judge, jury, and executioner. Rubio decides who is an antisemite, he decides that the person deserves to be deported, and he is the one who cancels their visa. In the authoritarian Trump regime, Rubio's decisions are not to be questioned. Rubio has applied the label, and the label justifies his actions.

A similar situation has been occurring with Venezuelan migrants. Once the Trump administration labels an individual a member of Tren de Aragua, any action that the administration takes is justified by that label. As a result of this label being applied, hundreds of men have been sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, from which they may never be released. Anyone who objects is accused of defending violent gang members. The same scenario has developed regarding labeling individuals members of the El Salvadoran gang, MS-13.

The problem with this tendency, of course, is when the labels are wrongly applied. Öztürk has done nothing antisemitic. Influential Jews and Israelis share her opinion. Sunil Kumar, the President of Tufts, was criticized himself in the op-ed that Öztürk coauthored. Yet, he has defended the article and said that it did not violate any university rules. The process of identifying members of Tren de Aragua is so fraught with error that it is likely that the majority of those sent to El Salvador were wrongly identified as gang members. The government admits that Kilmar Abrego García was sent to El Salvador in error, but refuses to facilitate his return to the U.S. because he has been labeled a member of MS-13, despite the evidence used for such an allegation being beyond flimsy.

Compounding things is the fact that the Trump administration simply hates to admit mistakes. Where a normal administration might realize that it has erred and take steps to correct the problem, the Trump administration routinely doubles down. Rubio could easily withdraw the threat to Öztürk's student visa. It would save both her and the government considerable time, money, and energy. If Rubio is trying to set precedents, there are likely far better targets than Öztürk. Similarly, even Trump admits that he could easily obtain the return of Abrego García. He simply refuses to do so and has instead taken to trying to convince the public that a Photoshopped picture is authentic. This is an administration that routinely creates bad situations and then makes them worse.

A horrifying case of this labeling going wrong was the topic of a DCUM Political Discussion forum thread last week and was reported in the New York Times yesterday. Yesterday, I wrote about the Trump administration illegally expelling U.S. citizen children. In this case, the Trump administration has kept a noncitizen child while deporting the child's migrant parents. The child's mother, Yorely Bernal, and father, Maiker Espinoza, are Venezuelans. However, both left Venezuela years ago and moved separately to Peru, where they met and where their child, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, was born.

The family migrated to the United States in May 2024, while former President Joe Biden was still in office. After crossing the border, the family applied for asylum. Immigration officials suspected the parents of being gang members and placed them in detention. Their daughter, Antonella, was put in foster care. The identification of the couple as gang members was likely due to their tattoos. While experts who have studied Tren de Aragua say that the gang does not use tattoos to identify members, U.S. immigration officials are convinced that tattoos are an important indication of gang membership. This has led to a number of likely misidentifications. For instance, Jerce Reyes Barrios, a former soccer player, has a tattoo honoring his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid, that an immigration official claimed was a gang insignia. Similarly, Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist who has tattoos of crowns — one labeled "Dad" and the other "Mom" — was sent to El Salvador's CECOT. One tattoo that immigration officials use as an example of a Tren de Aragua insignia actually belongs to a British man who describes himself as "an average middle-aged man from Derbyshire." Neither Espinoza nor Bernal have criminal records in Venezuela, Peru, or the United States. They say that their tattoos have nothing to do with gang membership. Espinoza's, for instance, include the cartoon characters Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian. Bernal's tattoos consist of the year of her parents' births, a lightning bolt, a small flame, and a serpent.

While Espinoza and Bernal were held in detention, their daughter Antonella was moved between multiple foster care homes. Currently, Bernal doesn't know where her daughter is living. In March, the Trump administration identified Espinoza as a member of Tren de Aragua and sent him to CECOT in El Salvador. This month, Bernal was deported to Venezuela. Antonella, on the other hand, remains in foster care in the United States, separated from her parents. The Venezuelan government has accused the Trump administration of "kidnapping" the baby. This would be an easy problem for the Trump administration to resolve. After all, Trump officials could blame the entire thing on Biden and send all three family members back to Venezuela. Instead, in typical Trump administration style, they are digging in. Over the weekend, the Trump administration released a statement saying that Espinoza is "a lieutenant of Tren De Aragua" and that Bernal "oversees recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution." These are strong charges, and the Trump administration should be able to support them with evidence. But, as usual, no such evidence has been provided. As I began this post by saying, the label is enough.

Consider the horror show this family is facing. The father is in CECOT and may never be released. The mother is in Venezuela. The baby is in a foster home in the U.S., but her mother has no idea where that home is located. She knows nothing about the foster family. Nobody knows if or when the child will be reunited with her family. Far from being embarrassed about this situation, the Trump administration is quite proud of it, saying "We will not allow this child to be abused and continue to be exposed to criminal activity that endangers her safety." But, again, there is no evidence showing that the baby was exposed to any such thing. There is only a label.

In school, we are repeatedly told to "show your work". Showing our work is essential to demonstrating that we properly arrived at the correct answer. The Trump administration never wants to show its work. Trump officials avoid oversight the way that vampires avoid sunlight. This is why judicial review and due process are so important. If there is evidence supporting the allegations made against Espinoza and Bernal, that could be presented to a judge. Similarly, if Antonella has been exposed to danger and would be in danger in Venezuela, that not only could, but should be presented to a judge. If a judge agrees with the Trump administration, that would only strengthen their case. The unwillingness of authorities to provide any evidence, let alone to a judge, suggests that they may not have much of a case. They likely have nothing but a label.

Update: There are some important updates on immigration topics that I have been following. First, a federal Judge in Vermont ordered the immediate release of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while arriving to attend his citizenship interview. The judge said that, "I think Mr. Mahdawi has made substantial claims that his detention was in retaliation for his protected speech". The case against  Mahdawi will continue, but he will no longer be detained while it continues.

Second, Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland has denied a government request to further delay discovery in the case involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Xinis had earlier ordered discovery into the government was in contempt for not obeying the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it must facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from CECOT. The government had requested, under seal, that discovery be delayed for a week. This had raised hope that Abrego Garcia's release was being confidentially negotiated. Regardless of whether or not that was true, Xinis has apparently lost patience and denied further delay. Discovery must now begin. This will require U.S. officials to provide sworn statements about their actions to comply with the Supreme Court decision.