President Donald Trump fired Sally Yates from her position of acting attorney general on Jan. 30. Her dismissal comes after she told the Justice Department not to defend the anti-immigration executive order. She had also noted in her statement that she believed the order barring Muslims from entering the U.S. was illegal.

There are multiple issues I’d like to address regarding her dismissal. The first is the official White House statement made regarding her dismissal, of which she was only notified two minutes before the White House informed reporters (a total dick move).

The White House’s statement explained that Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.” The use of the word “betrayed” does not sit well with me — who exactly did Yates betray?

During her confirmation hearing in 2015, Senator Jeff Sessions asked Yates, “If the views the President wants to execute are unlawful, should the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General say no?”

Yates said, “I believe the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the President.”

She lays out her job description clearly in her response; her primary function is not to serve the White House. The attorney general is, in fact, supposed to serve the law. This concept seems to baffle Trump (but then again, many things do). As Patrick Leahy, Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said, “[Yates] was fired for recognizing that her oath is to the Constitution and not to President Trump. His accusation … is wrong and dangerous.”

President Trump’s dismissal of Yates is terrifying because this act signifies a removal from democracy. Trump is transferring all effective power to a tight inner circle, eliminating the possibility of checks or oppositions from any branches of government. In other words, Yates’s dismissal sends a succinct message: if you don’t agree with Trump, then you’re gone.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer further articulated this message. In regards to State Department employees opposed to President Trump’s Muslim ban, he said they could “either get with the program or they can go.”

Imagine an America in which whatever Trump wants, Trump gets. Does this terrify you? Maybe not, because you are comforted walking around campus amongst your own reflection, and your definition of a great America consists of being surrounded by others that look just like you. (Hint: if this is you, then you should probably take a class or two on diversity.) But it absolutely terrifies me to think of all that he might just accomplish.

Speaking of scary things, Senator Jeff Sessions is now nominated for attorney general. Yes, that is the same senator who asked Yates whether she would be comfortable saying no to the president. Yes, that is the same senator who was the first U.S. senator to endorse Trump. And yes, that is the same senator who was denied a federal judgeship 30 years ago for being “too racist.”

In 1986 a Senate committee denied Sessions a federal judgeship. His former colleagues had testified that Sessions used the n-word. Thomas Figures, a black assistant U.S. attorney who worked for Sessions further testified that Sessions called him “boy” on multiple occasions and he joked about the Klu Klux Klan, saying that he thought members were “Okay, until I learned that they smoked marijuana.” Sessions denied all allegations.

“She will be a hero of the American people, a hero of what’s right,” said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, about Yates at her confirmation hearing in 2015. And Yates truly is an American hero. She stood up to Trump, despite knowing that her opposition would result in her dismissal.

As Trump continues to progress his agenda, one would hope that Yates’s dismissal has awoken the American people to his tyrannical presidency, and inspired the American people to continue shouldering resistance.

Meg Itoh, a Viewpoints Editor for the Voice, can be reached for comment at MItoh18@wooster.edu