This Week in Democracy – Week 75: Interfering in Elections, Imprisoning Protesters, Deporting Haitians
Zeteo's weekly round-up, documenting the growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
This week, Donald Trump kicked off America’s 250th celebrations with a campaign-style rally, declaring “America is back.”
You’ve got to hand it to the president, perhaps America is back: Back to a time when racism dictates policy; back to a time, when just a few ultra-rich (white) men – whose wealth was built at least in part on corruption – hold all the power; back to a time, when climate change wasn’t acknowledged, much less thought about. We could go on and on.
This year should be about celebrating American democracy – the progress the U.S. has made, and recognizing the progress yet to come. But instead, it’s a reflection of the very worst of America.
Just this week, Trump and his cronies ramped up their efforts to interfere with elections, ended temporary protective status for hundreds of thousands of people, and held bipartisan legislation meant to lower housing costs because… the president isn’t getting his way on voter restrictions.
It was yet another week that exemplified the fascism that has defined Trump’s second term. Here’s more about how Trump and his allies harmed democracy, undermined the Constitution, and hurt societies worldwide this week:
Saturday, June 20 – FBI Tried to Turn Delaney Hall Protesters Into Informants
The Intercept reported that at least half of the roughly 90 people who have been arrested in recent weeks for protesting at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in New Jersey have been contacted by FBI agents who tried to get them to become informants.
The move prompted a complaint by a deputy public defender representing multiple protesters, who argued it violated the constitutional rights of his clients.
Sunday, June 21 – Trump Admin Quashed Criminal Investigation of Clemency
The New York Times reported that the Trump administration shut down a criminal investigation into Trump’s December 2025 commutation of the sentence of David Gentile, a private equity executive who was convicted in 2024 of securities and wire fraud charges in a case prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.
As part of the probe into Gentile, who served less than two weeks of his seven-year prison sentence, investigators learned about jailhouse communications where he discussed making payments of $2.5 million or more to people or companies to help secure his clemency.
Monday, June 22 – Trump Ramps Up Efforts to Interfere in Elections
CNN reported that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars in federal Homeland Security funds to states unless they make sweeping changes to their election laws, including submitting their voter rolls through the DHS’s citizenship verification database.
The changes, which would be required under new rules for several homeland security grant programs, would also force states to phase out certain electronic voting systems and instead use hand-marked paper ballots.
Tuesday, June 23 – Anti-ICE Protesters Get Up to 100 Years in Prison
Federal judges gave a group of anti-ICE protesters, who were convicted for their roles in a 2025 demonstration in Texas as alleged members of “antifa,” prison sentences that ranged between 30 and 100 years. The person who got 30 years wasn’t even at the protest. The person who received 100 years was convicted of attempted murder, along with other charges, after a police officer was shot and injured.
The landmark case marks the first to incorporate Trump’s presidential declaration that labeled “antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization (antifa, which simply means “antifascist,” is not an organization). The protesters’ sentences are notably longer than those given to Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
“The prosecution of the protesters is part of an increasingly disturbing pattern of the Trump administration criminalizing speech and assembly in the United States,” Zeteo contributor Kim Wehle wrote. “And it should alarm us all.”
Wednesday, June 24 – Trump Holds Housing Bill Hostage
On Truth Social, Trump abruptly canceled the signing of a bipartisan bill designed to lower the cost of housing until the Republican-led House and Senate pass the SAVE America Act, which would disenfranchise millions of voters by requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to cast a ballot in elections.
Trump doesn’t have much leverage to hold the bill hostage, as legislation can still become law 10 days after it’s presented to the president while Congress is in session. Additionally, the bill received enough support from Congress that lawmakers could override a veto by the president if he tries to do so.
Thursday, June 25 – Supreme Court Allows Trump to End TPS for Haitians, Syrians
The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove the Temporary Protected Status of roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, in a move that will require them to leave the country or risk being arrested and deported once a termination date is set.
In the ruling, Justice Samuel Alito concluded that the TPS law authorizes Trump to end the program without intervention from the courts, a finding that threatens protections for people from the other 15 countries under the program.
Friday, June 26 – Hundreds of Thousands of Children Have No Lawyer for Deportation Hearings
Drop Site reported that more than half of the over 750,000 children facing deportation hearings have no legal representation, according to data from the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
The rate of children navigating immigration court proceedings without a lawyer (57%) is slightly higher than the 54% of adults who are unrepresented in their cases.
Did you miss previous weeks of ‘This Week in Democracy’? Catch up here. And check out more of Zeteo’s reporting from this week below:
After reading this I wonder 'Is there any good news'?
Let's read those repellent and bigoted statements by Trump so we can PUBLICIZE THEM WIDELY. He deserves to be shamed and held accountable.