The rise of authoritarianism from liberal, capitalist states builds on existing institutions. From goose-stepping totalitarianism to iron-fisted presidents of a banana republic; they're just retooling the factory, not building from scratch.

Secret police are a key instrument in every 20th Century example. The USSR had Cheka, Nazis had the Gestapo, East Germany had the Stasi, Ba’athist Syria had the General Intelligence Directorate.

A feature of secret police is their targeted repression of opponents, rather than the indiscriminate oppression of populations suspected of anti-regime activities.

That brings us to ICE and the use of War on Terror language to frame immigrants as threats to the state, thereby assigning them a criminal status that is then later used as justification to expel them from the US.

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