ICE protester says her Global Entry was revoked after agent scanned her face

Executive power and accountability

• Many see the revocation of Global Entry with no explanation or appeal as evidence of an overpowered executive and a failure of checks and balances.
• Others argue the problem is not structural incapacity (“cannot”) but political unwillingness (“will not”): Congress and the Supreme Court could rein this in but choose not to.
• Some point to ICE’s pattern of ignoring court orders as proof that legal constraints exist on paper but are not enforced in practice.

Role of GOP, voters, and institutions

• A large bloc blames the GOP specifically, and the electorate that keeps supporting it, for enabling authoritarian behavior.
• Others counter that the deeper flaw is that any system that puts bad actors into authority can be bent toward totalitarianism; no democratic design is fully immune.
• There’s debate over whether Congress and the presidency represent the popular will at all, and how low political participation and poor civic education contribute.

Democracy quality and international comparisons

• Some claim the US is among the most successful democracies; others cite multiple indices ranking it as a “deficient democracy” and note its rapid decline.
• Germany is used as a comparison: despite having elected the Nazis, it rebuilt institutions to be more resistant to authoritarianism, whereas the US kept largely the same structure even after the Civil War.
• Side discussion challenges American exceptionalism and notes how a two‑party duopoly has entrenched polarization, contrary to the founders’ warnings.

ICE, DHS, and authoritarian practices

• Commenters describe ICE and DHS behavior as openly authoritarian: targeting protesters, lying about “impeding” work, threatening to label people domestic terrorists, and using technology as a tool of intimidation.
• Some expect that DHS should eventually be dismantled; others pessimistically argue that states rarely give up such powers, and that this path ends in national collapse, not reform.

Surveillance tech, protester tactics, and due process

• Discussion contrasts license plate identification with facial recognition; several note agencies explicitly tout facial recognition and terror-database threats to protesters.
• Protesters’ own surveillance (logging suspected ICE license plates) raises fears of misidentification, collateral harassment of rental car users, and a broader “dystopian” escalation.
• There is frustration that law enforcement can lie to citizens and revoke privileges like Global Entry without transparency or recourse, undermining trust in an “open society.”

Evidence and uncertainty

• A minority calls the specific Global Entry story too anecdotal to prove political retaliation, asking whether this has happened to others or for other reasons.
• A linked travel blog is cited to show that unexplained Global Entry revocations do happen more broadly, but the exact cause in this case remains unclear.