This Speakout was written by Bob Burns, a professor emeritus of political science at South Dakota State University.

I joined scores of other community members on April 19 in a silent protest along Sixth Street in Brookings to express alarm regarding multiple actions of the pretend monarch occupying the White House.

One of the protest signs stated,” Honk in Favor of Due Process.” The sign was in reaction to the arbitrary seizure of documented and undocumented persons by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents followed by detention and in some cases deportation without benefit of prior notice of wrongdoing and fair hearing to establish a basis for the seizure, detention and deportation. The pretend monarch has suggested that the same fate may fall to undesirable U.S. citizens.

The fundamental elements of due process, including prior notice and fair hearing mentioned above, were first secured by the guarantee of the Great Writ or Habeas Corpus, which finds its legal origin in the Magna Carta decreed by English King John in 1215 and later enshrined in Article I Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Amendment adds that the national government shall not “deny to any person life, liberty or property without due process of law" and the 14th Amendment provides that “no state shall deny to any person life, liberty or property without due process of law.“ Note that the Fifth and 14th Amendment protection is not limited to citizens, but extends to all persons. The U.S. Supreme Court on multiple occasions has mused that there is perhaps no language in American jurisprudence that is more elusive of precise definition than “due process of law.” The phrase invites challenging questions such as what process is due, why is it due, when is it due, to whom is it due and what is the remedy if due process is denied. Yet, there is no ambiguity when it comes to the arbitrary seizure and detention of persons. The Great Writ requires that the person seized be delivered to the court and given notice of the reason for seizure and a fair court hearing for presentation of evidence supporting the seizure. Failure on the part of our government to do so shall result in the release of the person.

There is only one phrase to describe the failure of the current administration to respect the most fundamental elements of due process of law and that is government lawlessness. An attempt by the current administration to avoid fundamental due process requirements by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was found to lack foundation when the several agencies of the U.S. intelligence community concluded that there is no evidence to support the assertion that a notorious gang under the control of the government of Venezuela had invaded our nation.

I do not challenge the current administration’s authority to reform our immigration system and to remove undocumented felons from our nation, but I join with a majority of all Americans in insisting that the most fundamental requirements of due process of law be respected and enforced.