Image is Everything
There's going to be a showdown
The absence of due process in the Shock-and-Awe Deportations resulted in Kilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia, a Salvadoran with court-ordered protected status (he has political asylum) being sent back to his native El Salvador, along with dozens of alleged Tren de Agua Venezuelan gang members.
There was a court order to turn his plane around that was ignored. Trump made stochastic mentions of impeaching the judge who issued the order, testing Congressional Republicans’ response rate. While their murmuring echoes began to rise the next morning, Chief Justice Roberts made a statement reminding them that rulings themselves should not be grounds for impeachment. While that larger case is still being argued, Abrego-Garcia's specific protection has led another judge to demand the federal government return him from El Salvador.
If he comes back, he will be able to testify as to what happened to himself and the others being held. Unless some of them also have political asylum, they do not have the promise of being returned, though. While they, too, were denied due process, they are not Americans and will not be able to demand repatriation.
There remains a question as to whether they could sue for their release, under the same premise that the USA retains a form of custody via the agreement Marco Rubio signed with El Salvador. That contract exists somewhere, and we need to see it. Who is paying the costs of imprisonment? Who is collecting the profits?
The Abrego-Garcia case is huge, because the Trump administration wants to appeal the order passed down on Friday, April 4, that demanded he be returned to the United States no later than 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 7, but it does not seem anyone will be taking up the appeal. Trump's mouthpiece already stated Abrego-Garcia was not going to be brought back because he was no longer in the United States, and the U.S. cannot tell El Salvador what to do. It sounds to me like they do not want him to come back because of what condition he may be in--he had political asylum from that very country.
When the cops make it their business to fuck with everybody, eventually they end up fucking with the wrong people. What seemed like a routine arrest of two pot smokers on Boston Common ended up becoming the last jury trial for marijuana possession in Massachusetts, with voters decriminalizing months later. The arrestees were the founder of NORML and the publisher of High Times magazine—two people whose life’s work was trying to end marijuana arrests.
Creating jarring photos (the image always matters more than the result to this administration) was prioritized over the larger operation. Abrego-Garcia was spotted in these photos by his wife, who filed suit on his behalf.
The grand deportation plan is being nipped, literally, in the budding stage because the administration does not know how to properly disappear people. Hint: You are supposed to erase all evidence they existed—not produce photos proving they still do. They cannot even do crimes against humanity the right way.
Abrego-Garcia was apprehended by ICE while driving in Maryland on March 12. The Trump administration is relying on American prejudice to put an El Salvadoran political refugee together with alleged Venezuelan gang members, and not have it raise suspicion. While claiming an “administrative error” had resulted in Abrego-Garcia being included, Trump’s mouthpiece was sure to allege he was tied to MS-13, an Salvadoran gang. There is nothing connecting Abrego-Garcia to gang membership—he has no tattoos, which were supposedly used to “identify” deportees’ gang membership.
Why, oh why, do I suspect Abrego-Garcia was specifically targeted for return to El Salvador?
The federal attorney who could not answer as to why Abrego-Garcia in particular was kidnapped and shipped to an ad hoc concentration camp in El Salvador despite a court order forbidding it has been suspended with pay.
There are less than 48 hours remaining for Abrego-Garcia to be returned to U.S. soil. The Trump administration has already defied the court order to not deport people without due process. Now it’s clear their disregard for that element of jurisprudence has resulted in a grievous, further offense. We can always expect the bully to act tough, even when they plan to give in, but I have the feeling Abrego-Garcia will not be returned to the U.S. This has the makings of a showdown between the Judicial and the Executive branches, with the Judicial claiming rightful authority under the constitution, but lacking the ability to enforce it.
One foreign national whose asylum was “accidentally” revoked is not going to be enough to dissuade the administration’s quasi-constitutional power grab.
Stop it! Or I will say stop, again. That’s all the Court has. And there are plenty of examples of Trump taking what he wants regardless of resistance.
#BankruptElon