There is a pattern, a rhythm so loud it drowns out even the most painful truths of America’s present moment. Every time an immigrant family crosses a border, the outrage machine roars to life. Every time a refugee seeks asylum, headlines scream, politicians pound fists, cameras flash, and angry crowds are mobilized. Yet when white supremacist violence leaves bodies in the street, when armed insurrectionists storm the Capitol, when another school shooting devastates a community, the very same voices fall eerily silent.

Why? Because the outrage isn’t about “law and order.” It never was. It’s about control, fear, and narrative. It’s about painting some people as threats while excusing the violence of others. It’s about weaponizing the Constitution only when it’s convenient, while ignoring its principles when they get in the way. And if we don’t name this hypocrisy for what it is, we risk letting the loudest lies drown out the quiet truth.

The Manufactured Enemy

Let’s start with immigrants. For decades, im

migrants have been cast as scapegoats for nearly every American problem — crime, unemployment, drugs, cultural decline. The reality? Study after study shows immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born citizens. They fuel the economy, they work essential jobs, they pay taxes, they dream of the same futures Americans claim to value.

But nuance doesn’t win elections, fear does. And so the narrative is written: immigrants are the danger. Build the wall. Close the borders. Ban the refugees. It is a performance staged for power.

Meanwhile, the real and rising danger — white supremacist violence — lurks in plain sight. From Charleston to El Paso, from Buffalo to Pittsburgh, the statistics don’t lie: homegrown, racially motivated extremism is the deadliest domestic terror threat of our era. The FBI has said it. DHS has said it. Survivors of countless massacres have lived it.

And yet, where are the speeches? Where are the emergency sessions of Congress? Where are the outraged press conferences demanding immediate crackdowns? They don’t exist, because condemning white supremacists would mean turning the mirror inward.

Law and Order for Some

When rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6th, waving Confederate flags and chanting for the hanging of elected officials, many politicians rushed to soften the blow. These were not “terrorists,” they argued. They were “tourists,” “patriots,” even “concerned citizens.” Some lawmakers voted against investigating the attack at all.

But when peaceful immigrants march for dignity, when refugees ask for asylum, when communities of color protest police brutality, suddenly the law-and-order drumbeat becomes deafening. Militarized police are deployed. Tear gas clouds the air. Arrests are swift and merciless.

The contradiction is not subtle; it is glaring. Violence from white supremacists is excused, minimized, even protected. Non-violence from immigrants and minorities is criminalized. What message does that send? That “law and order” is not about the law at all — it’s about who is allowed to belong.

The Weaponization of Due Process

The hypocrisy stretches even further. Whenever one of “their own” faces justice, suddenly due process becomes sacred. Every procedural detail is scrutinized, every technicality is weaponized to stall accountability. Convicted allies are painted as martyrs, victims of a political witch hunt.

But when the accused is an immigrant, a refugee, or a person of color, due process vanishes. Families are separated at the border without trial. Migrants are deported in the dead of night. Children are locked in cages while courts drag their feet. Entire groups are condemned without evidence, painted as criminals for daring to exist.

This selective defense of constitutional rights isn’t just hypocrisy — it’s betrayal. The Constitution was written to apply equally, not conditionally. If it only matters when it’s politically convenient, then it doesn’t matter at all.

The Constitution Is Not Optional

Here is the hard truth: the Constitution is not a menu. You don’t get to pick and choose which rights apply, and to whom. Freedom of speech, due process, equal protection under the law — these are not negotiable. They are not privileges for some. They are promises to all.

When leaders weaponize fear of immigrants but ignore white supremacist violence, they don’t just fail their duty; they betray the very oath they swore to uphold. When they cry “law and order” while defending insurrectionists who attacked their own colleagues, they mock the rule of law. When they strip due process from the vulnerable but extend it endlessly to the powerful, they unravel the Constitution thread by thread.

And yet, this is where we stand. A nation caught between the truth we know and the lies we are fed. A people asked to believe that brown families are more dangerous than armed extremists. A public expected to accept that democracy can survive selective enforcement of its own laws.

Who We Choose to Be

The choice, however, is not yet out of our hands. We can still decide what this country will be. We can demand accountability for white supremacist violence, not silence. We can demand that “law and order” mean justice, not control. We can demand that due process be honored, not hoarded.

The Constitution is not optional. It is not conditional. It does not bend to fear or partisanship. It belongs to everyone, or it belongs to no one at all.

So the question remains: who are we willing to call out, and who are we willing to excuse? Because the answer will determine not just our politics, but our survival as a democracy.