Project Cornerstone: The Modern American Gestapo

Nico Phillips’s implementation of Project Cornerstone in Act IV, converting state National Guards into a fascist Pretorian Guard, draws direct parallels to ongoing federal efforts to not only dramatically expand private immigration detention and prison infrastructure but also convert Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement Officers into an extrajudicial political police force for the President.

•       NPR: Private Prisons and Local Jails Ramping Up as ICE Detention Exceeds Capacity

•       Human Rights Watch: Immigration Detention

•       https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will

•       https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/dem/releases/amid-surge-in-ice-hiring-durbin-remarks-on-low-standards-of-ice-recruits-who-have-failed-drug-tests-have-pending-criminal-charges-and-more

•       https://youtu.be/L0iPoV81ess?si=7N4ALzuyeu8MF3Y_

•       https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/ice-violence-misogyny-renee-good-alex-pretti/

•       https://www.ms.now/opinion/ice-lawyer-james-rodden-racist-social-media-trump

•       https://www.justsecurity.org/140413/dangerous-speech-white-houses-aliens-website/

•       https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/immigration-hiring-push-trump-private-army