With his latest string of decisions, Donald Trump has sparked fresh concern that, despite the mountain of evidence against disgraced rapper Diddy, he might walk free since the president of America has a penchant for extending pardons to convicted criminals while allowing those deserving due legal process to be detained, tortured, and humiliated. After all, the latter can’t offer him the millions of dollars or a Boeing jet.
Trump recently pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley on May 27, 2025. The couple, known for their show Chrisley Knows Best, had been serving prison sentences – 10 and 7 years, respectively – since 2023 for committing bank fraud to secure over $30 million and tax evasion. The president, who has firsthand experience of knowing how taxing it is to be held liable for crimes you did commit – the POTUS was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records – found kindred souls in the couple and ordered their release. If their daughter, Savannah, being a vocal Trump supporter and frequent Mar-a-Lago guest, further sweetened the deal, we don’t know.
Obviously, the general population of America doesn’t always have such strong and elite connections. In that case, when they find themselves at the receiving end of Trump’s ruthless deportation policies – despite checking none of its boxes and actually having legal claim to American citizenship – they are forced to stay in detention centers, get pushed around by ICE agents, and endlessly fight a battle that wouldn’t have even existed under a better, more humane leader.
This is what 58-year-old Alma Bowman’s life is like as you read this. Daughter of U.S. Navy veteran, Lawrence Bowman – who was stationed in the Philippines during the Vietnam War – Alma was born there in 1966 and has been living in the U.S. since the age of 10 after her family moved here. She likely qualifies for U.S. citizenship by birth through her American father, but bureaucratic, legal, or evidentiary gaps have left her status in limbo. This is not uncommon in older cases involving foreign-born children of U.S. servicemembers or citizens, especially when documentation was incomplete or never filed.
Okay, so So, yes, ICE can argue they are lawfully detaining a non-citizen, until her citizenship is formally recognized by a court or USCIS. But does that justify their misbehaviour or their gloating at her misfortune? Does it justify mocking her usage of a wheelchair or deliberately crashing it, as revealed by her lawyer?
Is Trump really that blind to her plight – and those of others like her? Is it just the rich that warrant his kindness, no matter their crime? What’s more is that Bowman’s family, attorneys, and even U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson have stressed that “she’s an American citizen” and is being illegally detained, even though one of her parents was an American, which means that she is an American.
As reported by Atlanta news, military records and her birth certificate clearly list Lawrence Bowman as her father, contrary to the rhetoric many vitriolic MAGA members are throwing out there – that she was his stepdaughter or adopted.
“She is an American citizen, and to lock her up in immigration detention is deeply offensive to her humanity, to the Constitution, and is just plain wrong,” shared family attorney Samantha Hamilton to Newsweek. “The rule of law has never seemed to be so meaningless,” she added
But has Trump taken a decision, behaved like a true leader instead of a businessman only interested in furthering his power and wealth? While he is out there, hosting Mar-a-Lago parties, and pardoning wealthy criminals of equally wealthy guests, Bowman and her family are desperately fighting for her freedom. Bowman’s sons, John and Chris, have revealed that their mother has told them to sell her beloved collection of action figures to raise money if she is deported, despite their efforts, but the mere idea haunts them – “It matters too much. It would feel like giving up on her.”
Published: May 29, 2025 10:53 am