Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
By Chido Nwangwu. Follow on X (Twitter) @Chido247
The unusually heavy militarization of key sections of an increasing number of cities across the United States, since the first and second weeks of June 2025, continues to be seen with considerable concern around America and the world.
For millions of people who, reasonably, differentiate the military from the neighborhood police, it remains an unfolding, dangerous, existential complexity on the centuries’ old quests and battles for the security and safety of the borders of these United States.
Remarkably, in the 18th and 19th centuries, as has been cited in this 21st century, the critical matter has been the contentious debate about immigration.
The militarization of the “engagement” with advanced weaponry and technology is already yielding thousands of photographs and videos for some dictatorships and iron-fist, oppressive regimes to mischievously cite and reference as their exculpating common denominator. Simply, they are already saying that since in President Trump’s America, these few days, he ordered without consulting the Governor of California, thousands of extraordinarily armed, combined contingent of soldiers, National Guard troops and the U.S Marines, to quell protests and unrest against his administration’s immigration raids, what is allowed Mr. A should be allowed Mr. B!
But those who make such arguments should know better; all Animals are not equal!
The harsh fact, too, is that millions of the supporters of President Trump commend his twin goals of “protecting the border and stopping illegal migration.”
For others, it is very disheartening from what they are seeing from various news organizations, private sources and independent video recordings by different people. For example, events in the famous, colorful and elegant cities, each with two Spanish-Latino names, Los Angeles and San Francisco!
I’ve stated here previously that Beyond all of its material successes, America’s real strength rests on the prudent balance of the constitutional assignment of roles and the moral clarity to execute your obligations with a certain sense of fairness and decency.
Consequently, these increasing deployments of the armed forces of the United States in Los Angeles, and other parts of the country, have raised a plethora of constitutional questions and concerns regarding assignments of roles and range of duties.
On the other hand, across America, for Trump & Co, it’s the manifestation of decisive, “patriotic power” and strong leadership to put in check and subdue the “liberal elites” and their “illegal immigrants” horde of supporters.
Many recent immigrants who aspire to become American citizens, these days, carry their hearts in their hands.
Hence, the major existential question will be: What is America going to become, next?
•Dr. Chido Nwangwu, author of the forthcoming 2025 book, MLK, Mandela & Achebe: Power, Leadership and Identity., is the Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com, and established USAfrica in 1992 in Houston. He has appeared as an analyst on CNN International, SABC, Al Jazeera, SKYnews, BBC, and served as an adviser on Africa business to Houston’s former Mayor Lee Brown. Follow him on X (Twitter) @Chido247
Will Trump’s tariffs drive America to a catastrophic strategic blunder? By Chido Nwangwu
