The Sunday “talking heads” programs seemed to have settled on the story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia as the most significant of the day with ABC, CBS, and NBC all featuring stories that in one way or another connected to it. To my eye the facts of the case appear to be:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national
He has resided in Maryland for the last 14 years
He has never requested asylum
He has a family in Maryland
The Trump Administration deported him to El Salvador where he was incarcerated with MS-13 gang members
The Trump Administration says their action was under the Alien Enemies Act
The Trump Administration says Mr. Abrego Garcia was departed to El Salvador via “administrative error”
The Supreme Court has gently rebuked BOTH the district court judge who ordered the Trump Administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States and the Trump Administration, requesting the Trump Administration “facilitate” his return
The contested facts of the case appear to be
Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13
His wife filed a protective order against him for domestic violence
It has also been asserted that he has engaged in human trafficking.
The BBC summary of the facts of the case confirm all of the above.
There are several things that irritate me about the ABC, CBS, and NBC coverage of the story. First, there appears to be an implicit assumption that there is a generalized right immigration where no such right exists. Second, the words “due process” are frequently thrown around without acknowledging that there is no unitary due process but, rather, due process can be a lot of different things under different circumstances. It seems to be used synonymously with “individualized hearing” but not only is that not the definition of due process but Congress can change what the due process in different cases pretty much at will.
Nate Silver provides a pretty good commentary on the matter.
I honestly don’t understand why Democrats are pursuing this so assiduously. To my eye it appears to be a losing issue. Mr. Abrego Garcia is unlikely to be allowed to remain in the United States even if he is returned from El Salvador for an individualized hearing.
I think the “administrative error” was likely caused by the Immigration Judge who granted KAG relief referencing Guatemala in the conclusion of his opinion. This is the relevant part of that order:
“DHS has not shown that there are changed circumstances in Guatemala that would result in the Respondent’s life not being threatened, or that internal relocation is possible and reasonable under the circumstances. Therefore, the Respondent’s application for withholding under the Act is granted.”
In the body of the opinion, the judge mentions that KAG’s parents left El Salvador and moved to Guatemala and are still being harassed by Barrio 18, but otherwise the opinion contemplates removal to El Salvador. For example, the Judge also ruled against asylum based upon torture risk, stating “the Respondent has not shown that it is ‘more likely than not’ that he would be tortured if he were to be removed to El Salvador.”
In any event, the administrative error appears to be a typo in the Immigration Judge’s conclusion and KAG was deported to the singular country he shouldn’t. I’ve been expecting him to show up in some other country once an arrangement was made.
The claims about him being in MS-13 and wife abuse, etc are largely irrelevant, though it may be notable the one claim that he was part of MS-13 was supposedly anonymous and the officer who claimed to have received that report has some sketchy activity that IIRC resulted in his losing his job. The issue is that per the constitution he had a right to a judicial hearing before being sent to jail for life. The court could have determined if all the claims against him were true.
The other part of the issue is that the Trump lawyers admitted they made an error and now they refuse to correct it. He was sent the one place he wasn’t supposed to be sent, again w/o a hearing. You are correct that congress could change what it means but they have not.
Also, I am not sure who you are reading. All fo the people I read who are serious about this issue dont believe all immigration is legal. If a court heard his case and decided he should get a life sentence and they wanted to send him somewhere besides El Salvador that’s ok.
Finally, in context it’s an important case as the Trump admin is disappearing people and locking up people for extended periods for very sketchy reasons. This is happening to legal residents and to people with valid visas. One of son’s roommates is from Ukraine doing research at MIT. An international math Olympiad gold medal winner. He is active and very vocal about trans issues. (He is also weird and incredibly claustrophobic.) Trump has threatened to pull visas for Ukraine refugees and we know they dont like trans people and those who support them. He is terrified of being locked up in detention so is planning on leaving the country.
Steve
I think this issue is the classic Trump laser pointer. The media and Dems immediately start chasing it. I think he realizes that a mistake was made in sending Garcia to El Salvador and he is on the wrong side of a court decision. Nevertheless, he see this as his chance to make immigration the topic of discussion. He wants that. People all over X and Facebook are posting things like: “Democrats go to El Salvador to help an illegal immigrant, but they never ___________.” This may be visited Western NC after Helene, voted for the Laken Riley Act, etc. Legally, he may be wrong, but politically, he is winning on this topic.
It reminds me of the failure to overturn Obamacare. This was probably the biggest political failure in my lifetime by either party. Republican has run on the issue for about a decade. When they finally won the House, Senate and Presidency, they failed to overturn Obamacare. People weren’t talking much about that around the water cooler or on Facebook. Why? Because Trump had been trashing Colin Kaepernick on Twitter for kneeling for the National Anthem.
This is similar to today. His tariffs are unpopular, but everyone is talking about Garcia.
In that paragraph you are embracing the notion that somebody should be allowed to immigrate unless convicted of a crime but that is not the law.
The legal standard for immigration is not “immigrable unless proven otherwise”. Someone in the country illegally without a legitimate cause for asylum as specified by law can be expelled at any time.
No. Maybe I didnt flesh it out enough but I acknowledge that in the KAG case the immigration was illegal. He is liable to deportation. If they just deported him to Mexico,Chile or wherever that would accept him this isn’t newsworthy.
In the second half of that quote I note what is really going on here. This is not deportation but a lifetime sentence to prison. Maybe you support lifetime imprisonment for people who illegally immigrate but I think that’s a minority position. If you support his lifetime imprisonment for his other supposed crimes then it should have a court hearing. Maybe you support the idea that the executive branch should be able to decide who to arrest, if they are guilty and then imprison them without anyone being able to challenge the claims of the executive branch, but I think that’s authoritarian govt at its worst.
Steve
Arrant nonsense, Steve. The guy is owed what illegals are legally owed here. He is owed what he is owed under El Salvador’s laws. Don’t conflate the two.
A guy named Matt Bernius over at OTB wrote a good piece pointing out the error of sending him to El Salvador. The admin screwed up. I think they know it.
Here, Charlie correctly -IMHO – points out that there are two lenses here. Legal and political. Trump admin wrong on legal. But the political is just a gift. I don’t think Dems care about due process one whit.
Spare me the crocodile tears. Trump was prosecuted over real estate valuations. News item: loan seekers routinely overvalue assets. Lenders know how to appraise and underwrite assets, and how to say no. Due process my ass.
How politically tone deaf do you have to be to make Garcia your poster boy?