This editorial by Diego Torres appears as the introduction to the February 2026 issue of Hablemos de Migración*, a newsletter on migration issues published by the Frente Amplio de Mexicanos y Migrantes. We encourage you to subscribe. The English version of the February 2026 issue is available for download.*
To speak of migration in the current context, to declare that global rights are at risk under the Trump administration, might seem like an exaggeration. However,the facts point in the opposite direction. The systematic violation of norms—legal, political, and ethical—has been a constant throughout his tenure, and this escalation became more visible and alarming after his first term. This issue focuses on that direct relationship: when rights regress, displacement accelerates.
The abuses committed during his time as a businessman cannot be attributed entirely to a single individual: they also stem from a permissive, unequal, and corrupt system that allowed him—like other millionaires—to profit from and abuse the system with impunity. But as President of the United States, the logic shifts: there he tasted the fruits of power with fragile checks and balances, and from that position, he has pursued an agenda that combines arbitrariness, political calculation, and unbridled ambition. His project is no small matter: it rests on the idea of wielding personalistic, almost monarchical, power. And if it is not stopped in time, its consequences could cost the lives and futures of thousands or even millions of people.
During his first term (2017–2021), he faced two impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. The first was for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress: he was accused of requesting Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, conditioning the delivery of military aid that had already been approved by Congress. The central argument was clear: using his office for personal gain, harming a political adversary, and simultaneously obstructing legislative oversight by not cooperating with the investigation.
The world faces a personalistic, erratic, and dangerous power.
The second impeachment was for inciting insurrection after losing the 2020 election, in the context of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Actions and speeches before and during that day encouraged thousands of people to attempt to prevent the certification of the election results—that is, to subvert the democratic process and violate his oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” Even with compelling evidence, he was acquitted in both cases.
And those weren’t the only accusations. His administration was embroiled in numerous allegations that, for various reasons, didn’t pursue their legal course to the end.
One example is Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election: the report documented numerous contacts with Russia; it didn’t establish a criminal conspiracy, but neither did it exonerate the president from possible obstruction of justice. In fact, it presented evidence consistent with a pattern characteristic of his presidency: punishing or removing anyone who didn’t fall in line. The case of then-FBI Director James Comey was emblematic.
The following years were also fraught with scandals and investigations. He faced dozens of charges, including the illegal withholding and concealment of documents related to national defense, obstruction of justice, and making false statements. He was also found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records and held civilly liable for fraudulently inflating the value of his assets to obtain favorable loan and insurance terms. In the realm of sexual matters, the writer E. Jean Carroll sued him for defamation and sexual assault; he was found civilly liable, and the case resulted in a multimillion-dollar settlement.
In his second term, his disregard for the rule of law didn’t wait a single day. Within hours, he signed executive orders, some blatantly unconstitutional. Among them was the pardon of over a thousand people linked to the attack on the Capitol, a politically motivated act of violence that left many dead and dozens wounded. He withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, reinforcing a narrative of climate change denial. And one of the decisions most clearly contradictory to the Constitution was his attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship, directly conflicting with the 14th Amendment.
Added to this were symbolic and material actions reminiscent of monarchy: even the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, a historic landmark, as if the state were merely an extension of his whims.
Although these measures directly impact American society, the danger extends far beyond. Threats that many dismissed as empty rhetoric or populist promises to seduce a desperate electorate have transformed into real risks. It’s no longer just about rhetoric: the imposition of tariffs as a punitive measure, political blackmail, and open pressure against countries that refuse to comply paint a picture of global instability.
Donald Trump not only violates domestic norms, his conduct spills over into the international order. At home, he enjoys the disciplined support of the Republican Party and, to worsen the situation, the complicity of sectors of the Democratic Party that have yielded on crucial issues: disproportionate budgets for the hunt for migrants, cuts or blockages to essential social programs, and ever-widening margins for military action without effective democratic oversight. On the world stage, the reaction usually remains at the level of statements of rejection: condemnations that sound firm but are ultimately empty, incapable of halting the Trump machine. This was the case with multiple recent crises, such as the genocide in Palestine; it is also the case with the continuation of humanitarian tragedies before an international community that observes, condemns, and ultimately permits, as with the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
If this tsunami of abuses is not stopped, migration will increase in all directions.
Within the United States, many people may be forced to move due to the precariousness of their living conditions, seeking to survive in economic hubs like California or New York—or even in states like Arizona or Texas—following the logic of “migrating to where there are still jobs, services, and opportunities.” Abroad, as long as the structural causes—violence, poverty, inequality, and political crisis persist, migration flows will not decrease. And if the agenda of domination and confrontation escalates, the world may enter a cycle of major conflicts: Russia and China will not remain passive in the face of a United States that seeks to impose its will by force. Imperial competition, militarization, and global destabilization will only produce more poverty, more violence against the most vulnerable, and therefore, more migration.
Incredibly, we are at a historic crossroads: the stability of the world order will depend, to a large extent, on what happens in the coming months. Today, that stability rests in the hands of a man who presents himself as a strong leader but operates as a personalistic, erratic, and dangerous power; someone who combines media-driven senility with political perversity, and who pursues dominance without considering the consequences.
Diego Torres is the founder of El Frente Amplio de Mexicanos y Migrantes, an organization founded in 2022 with the goal of strengthening the unity of the migrant community, contributing to the consolidation of the Fourth Transformation in Mexico’s public life, and advocating for immigration reform in the main migrant-receiving countries; as well as the editor of Hablemos de Migración.
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