Will Trump's war on immigrants tank the US economy in ways he didn't even see coming?

The "full faith and credit of the United States" isn't what it use to be. 

Donald Trump changed all of that, and now even the bond markets have begun to notice. Hence, Wednesday's White House panic, and Trump's rescinding of many of his "permanent" tariffs—again.

The United States has long been seen as one of the most stable countries in the world. Because of that, most of the world has been willing to put their trust in us. That together with the eminence size of the US, and its vast economic resources, has made it the center of world economic activity, and the U$D the currency of international trade.

The paradox is that although the US regularly changes governments every four or eight years, it is seen as more stable, more reliable, than any country that has had the same head of state for decade after decade. That is because while the US government may regularly swing between Democratic and Republican, or some mix of them, each successive administration has largely stood behind the deals and promises made by previous administrations. That's the real meaning of full faith and credit of the United States.

Like so many issues in dispute these day, "full faith and credit" is rooted in the US Constitution. The "Full Faith and Credit Clause" in Article IV, Section 1 mandates that each state respect the laws and governments of every other state.  It has also been taken to mean each successive US administration will honor treaties, deals, and promises made by those that came before. US treasury bonds have become the "gold standard" of money reserves precisely because they are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Donald Trump doesn't see a need to abide by the Constitution, let alone honor deals made by previous administrations, even if that previous administration was him—as in the case of the USMCA deal with Mexico and Canada. 

And especially in his psychotic quest to rid the country of black and brown people, he has been willing to violate decades old norms on how the US government has treated immigrants. After all the lies about how "we just want people to come in the right way," he has been secretly ripping up their green cards, and ordering his masked thugs to kidnapped and imprison them with no due process. 

Just hours before lifting tariffs he tells his followers to buy.

He has rescinded the temporary protected status of hundred of thousands of legal immigrants, so that they can be deport, or even imprisoned in a country they have no connection to. Now he is demanding that the IRS turn over data on immigrant tax payers to DHS, after decades of promising they would never do that. And he is demanding that SSA turn over the social security numbers of immigrants in contradiction to long standing policy. And he's clearly manipulating the financial markets—there's some insider trading going on.

Did he really think that the securities market would fail to notice that the "full faith and credit of the United States" isn't what it use to be? This could get really ugly.

Clay Claiborne

10 April 2025

We, the People, must be the Judiciary's enforcement arm

In the United States, we've recently had a lot of talk about the relationships between the three branches of government of our constitutional democracy. Article I of that Constitution establishes Congress, with the powers to make laws, control spending, and declare wars. Article II establishes the Presidency with executive powers over law enforcement and the military. Article III establishes the Supreme Court, and the federal judiciary, with the power to interpret federal laws, and apply the Constitution to all laws and government actions.

The relationship between these three branches has become the topic of so many conversations because President Trump is trying to aggregate all power to himself regardless of constitutional separations of power, or prohibitions. So far Congress has been feckless in resisting his drive to power. The reasons are Republican subservience and Democratic cowardice. The judiciary has been the one branch of government that has acted most vigorously to stay Trump's drive to power, with many federal judges ordering the Trump administration to stop many of its worst actions, and undo many of its worst harms.

The clear and present danger to our democracy is that Trump will start defying these court orders. So far, there's little evidence that he's really complying with many of these court orders, and we are hearing defiant rhetoric from Trump and his minions along the lines of Trump-hero President Andrew Jackson  “[Chief Justice] John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

One flaw in our Constitution that Trump is seeking to exploit is that the judiciary has no independent enforcement apparatus, it depends on the coercive powers of the state held exclusively by the executive branch. Our system depends on the executive abiding by the rulings of the judiciary and enforcing them. It wasn't built for a bad president who fills the executive branch with his sycophants intent on grabbing power far beyond what the Constitution allows, and taunting the nation with his threats to completely ignore judicial rulings and rule as a dictator.

Under these circumstances, it is We, the People, that must become the enforcement arm of the judiciary. We must take to the streets in our millions for every offense to the Constitution, and especially any violation of a federal court order. We must treat each violation as the emergency it really is and take to the streets in such numbers as to make business as usual impossible until the law is complied with. We must also take to the streets, and pack the town halls to give Congress some backbone.  We can make so much "good trouble" that they'll think twice about violating another court order.  We can encourage judges to make the right rulings and demand compliance. This is the only way we can save our democracy.

No one is coming to save us but us.       

Clay Claiborne

6 April 2025