Donald Trump has a history of using fabricated national threats to justify extraordinary executive power—especially to target vulnerable groups. In his first term, he used that power to ban Muslims, build a border wall, and override Congress. In his second term, he’s already used it to erase transgender identity from federal law.
But where does it go next?
If history is any indication:
The legal and political framework for imprisoning transgender people already exists.
The Muslim Ban (2017–2020): The Template
In January 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. under the pretext of “national security.”
He didn’t declare a national emergency—he didn’t have to.
Instead, he invoked Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president to:
“Suspend the entry of any class of non-citizens” if deemed detrimental to U.S. interests.
The Supreme Court upheld this ban in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), ruling that the president has virtually unlimited discretion under 212(f)—even when his policy is rooted in discrimination and lies.
Key takeaway: Trump doesn’t need real evidence. He just needs to say it’s a threat.
🔗 SCOTUSblog: Trump v. Hawaii
🔗 Brennan Center: Trump’s Emergency Powers Abuse
The Border Wall “Emergency” (2019): Bypassing Congress
When Congress refused to fund Trump’s border wall, he declared a national emergency anyway. This let him bypass the legislative process and divert billions in military funding to build the wall.
Courts allowed much of this spending to proceed, showing again how national emergencies enable unchecked presidential power.
This tactic can be easily repurposed:
Trump could declare an emergency targeting “gender ideology,” then use it to justify suspensions of rights, surveillance, or even mass detainment of transgender individuals.
Echoes of the Past: Japanese Internment Camps
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing the military to forcibly relocate and incarcerate Japanese Americans in camps. Over 120,000 people—most of them U.S. citizens—were imprisoned without due process.
In Korematsu v. United States (1944), the Supreme Court upheld this action, ruling that national security outweighed individual rights.
That precedent was only disavowed, not overturned, in Trump v. Hawaii (2018). And Trump’s lawyers used Korematsu as a legal foundation for the Muslim Ban.
This means the legal playbook for internment is still in circulation—and was recently validated by the highest court in the country.
How This Could Be Used Against Transgender People
Trump is already laying the groundwork:
- He signed Executive Order 14168, which erases transgender identity from all federal policy.
- He has labeled trans people as mentally unfit, ideologically dangerous, and linked our existence to the “mutilation of children.”
- His team, through Project 2025, wants to dismantle civil rights protections, fire government employees who are “disloyal,” and replace federal agencies with ideologues.
It would take only one declaration—a national emergency over “gender ideology”—for him to:
- Detain those labeled a threat to public health or order
- Isolate or relocate trans people under “protective custody”
- Criminalize support systems (doctors, schools, families)
- Suspend habeas corpus—the right to challenge imprisonment
The Tools Are Already in Place
What he did to Muslims, immigrants, and border communities—
he now prepares to do to us.
He doesn’t need new laws. He needs:
- One executive order
- A manufactured crisis
- And a court willing to look the other way
All of that already happened before.
It can happen again.
Why We Must Act Now
We cannot wait until the detentions begin to say something was wrong.
We need local governments, especially in California, to:
- Pass non-cooperation sanctuary policies
- Declare trans identity as protected
- Refuse to assist with any federal targeting
Because the next national emergency might be us.