Trump Administration Continues to Fight to Keep an Innocent Man in a Gulag
The saga of Kilmar Abrego Garcia continues to underscore the immoral nature of this presidency and its power goals.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration continued to forcefully assert that the courts can’t tell them what to do as it pertains to the imprisonment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the CECOT prison in El Salvador. Again, this is a man that the administration itself admits was sent there by mistake.
This story concerns, angers, and, indeed, offends me. Starting with the anger and the offense, I am angry and offended that the government of the United States is behaving with aggressive indifference to the plight of a human being that they mistakenly ripped from his family and tossed in a hell-hole.
Note that part of the reason that they are willing to do is that Abrego Garcia is actually a Salvadoran national (in the US legally, I would note), so that means he really isn’t a real person to the Trump administration. And anyone who thinks that characterization is unfair to the Trump administration, please note that they seem utterly unconcerned to have sentenced a man to life in prison in a place known to abuse human rights. Worse, they are fighting to keep him there because it serves their purposes.
As a human being, he is utterly unimportant to them.
But his imprisonment is very important to their power goals.
The concern (which is too mild a word) is that they are clearly trying to establish a zone of impunity for themselves, wherein they can send whomever they like to CECOT and then not have to answer to anyone.
Note that the administration is fighting to keep him there on a combined logic that a) the courts can’t tell the president what to do in terms of foreign affairs, and b) that the matter for El Salvador to address, not the US, because Abrego Garcia is in their custody, not ours.
Let’s boil this down to a core truth. The administration is arguing that if a person makes it to CECOT, whether guilty or not, whether taken there legally or not (and SCOTUS has deemed Abrego Garcia’s rendition “illegal”), they have to stay there unless the Salvadoran government decides to release them.
They are trying to establish the power to send anyone they want to CECOT and then tell US courts that they have no jurisdiction over them.
From the brief they filed over the weekend:
The federal courts have no authority to direct the Executive Branch to conduct foreign relations in a particular way, or engage with a foreign sovereign in a given manner.
[…]
But as explained, a federal court cannot compel the Executive Branch to engage in any mandated act of diplomacy or incursion upon the sovereignty of another nation.
The brief goes on to claim that discovery cannot be expedited because it requires classified documents and would interfere with diplomacy with the Salvadoran government, including Bukele’s visit to the US.
They conclude the brief as follows:
Defendants remain in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order. Based on the Supreme Court’s Order and respect for both the Executive Branch’s authority over foreign affairs and the sovereignty of El Salvador, the Court should take no further action in response to Plaintiffs’ motion.
So, they are asserting the laughable notion that defying the lower court’s order is compliance with SCOTUS while ultimately throwing up barriers in the form of foreign affairs and Salvadoran sovereignty.
There is a definite tone of defiantly talking down to the court from a position of superiority. I recommend people read the whole thing.
I would note that what we are currently seeing is the offshoring (oh, the irony!) of domestic policy. In this case, the policy is the imprisonment of criminals (except, of course, they are only alleged criminals, given their lack of even show trials). The implications that any judicial intrusion into the actions of the executive branch is invalid if the action is done via contract with a foreign government are massive.
By this logic, any policy action done offshore is foreign policy and cannot be touched by the courts. If the IRS’s tax collection duties were done via contract with a North Korean firm and they took your entire bank account and not just what you owed in taxes, oops!
This is a frightening, chilling, and grotesque. It is an attempt to utterly subvert the rule of law and to destroy due process for whomever the Trump administration wishes to seize and send to CECOT.
Let me be as plain as possible: they are looking for an excuse to leave an innocent man in a hellish prison as a power flex. And, worse, they are setting the stage to do it again, and on purpose next time.
Please tell me what would stop the administration from seizing an American citizen and flying them to El Salvador and, once imprisoned, claiming that the courts have no jurisdiction over that person.
Note that they have already demonstrated that they will ignore a court order to turn a plane around en route to El Salvador. They clearly believe that if they can get a person outside of the US that they can do whatever they want to that person.
This is about expanding their power.
If they win this and then send an American citizen to CECOT, then that person, guilty or innocent, will be stuck there possibly for the rest of their lives because the administration will have demonstrated that such an action is within their foreign policy powers and that a person once deposited in CECOT is outside any influence whatsoever of the US courts system.
This is all in the name of the rule of law and is fueled by the ongoing othering of migrants and the stoking of unnecessary fears in the broader population.
Another thing: all the focus is now on Abrego Garcia.
But what about the other deportees? All of them got de facto sentenced to life. In a torture prison, no less.
WTF happened to due process?
Since the hurdle the administration claims seems to be merely outside of U.S. (or its airspace), what is to stop this administration from diverting US citizens trying to return to the US to El Salvador or wherever? What Constitutional rights would American citizens outside the country for any reason have against actions of the US government. This theory is insane!
This weekend, DHS detained lawyers representing protestors, and sent thousands of American citizens with Latino names letters alerting them that they will be deported in the next 7 days.
The administration is trying to set up ‘mistakenly’ sending a US Citizen to an El Salvadorian murder prison to test the courts response.
Then it’s open season on all undesireables.
Trump voters just don’t seem to care about lying and deception in profound ways. They ran on the stupid lie about Haitian migrants eating cats, and nobody cared. Now they are using the idiot-spawned gang databases to deport gay makeup artists who happen to have tattoos.
Notice how none of the usual trolls are defending this stuff with their usual bs. They are not against it, not at all. But deep down, this is who they are–they’ll support anything in silence up to and including concentration camps. I keep on seeing pics of ICE thugs with their faces covered. Who they are afraid of? This isn’t Mexico. No cartels are going to come after them. Student leaders and op-ed writers in college papers are not violent terrorists. They’re afraid of being seen for what they are: fascist thugs who would do anything if asked without questioning.
@Modulo Myself:
This would suggest that shaming might still be a viable way to shake up at least some of these people. “What are they hiding from?” would be a good question for the press to ask GOP pols who still care about their public image. There must be a few of them still around.
Per the NYT, Bukele says it’s “preposterous” to think they’ll return Albrego Garcia.
It’s completely outrageous. Unfortunately, I can see few remedies beyond the courts, and the administration has gamed things to make that more difficult, even assuming they will comply.
There may not be anything that can be done until Democrats can win and have some real power again. I hope in the future that the can won’t be kicked – it should be clear to everyone now that Congress has ceded too much authority to the Executive branch on immigration (and tariffs), and that needs to be rescinded.
Trump says that he has asked Bukele to build five more prisons, these to house U.S. citizen prisoners.
Such dark times. I’m very close to believing that Abrego Garcia will not come home alive.
Either that, or if he’s released and brought home, he will be ‘forced’ to profusely thank the President.
I’m reminded (particularly at this season) of the defense of “ I was just following orders.
The court should begin to consider sanctioning individuals. If the government’s position that return of Garcia is a foreign policy matter, begin by order/sanctioning Marco Rubio and any and all underlings. If the Department of Defense refuses to provide transportation, order/sanction Hegseth and any and all underlings.
@Andy:
I recognize this question is perhaps oblivious, but why must we wait for the Democrats to have power to do anything about this? The 119th Congress could reclaim some of the authority ceded to the Executive starting today. It seems to me that it would be infinitely easier to rebalance the power of these branches when each is held by the same party considering the opposing politics would be minimized. Hell, SCOTUS is currently dominated by conservatives, so the equilibration should be more likely to be judicially blessed.
Doesn’t it seem a little odd to not give any agency to the Republicans for this completely outrageous state of affairs? Political complicity explains away egregious state actions and we barely bat an eye.
@Scott F.:
Meh. Republicans are useless lost cause Trump slaves. Any political pushback will necessarily have to come from Democratic electeds, and the voters pushing them. They are movable, Republicans are waste of time sellouts.
@Scott F.:
Basically what DK said.
Sure, in theory, that is possible, and in a saner political environment, you’d see some Republicans break with their party. In the world we actually live in, however, I don’t see it happening. Maybe it will? At this point, I have no accurate sense of how bad things would have to get before Republicans start saying “no,” much less actively seeking to take away authority from Trump.
I’m certainly doing my part with my own GoP Congressman, including organizing friends and associates to call and write his office. He is studiously avoiding saying anything about much of the stuff Trump is doing, including tariffs and the worst immigration excesses. This district is only +5 R now, and to me, he’s clearly trying to surf the thin line between avoiding pissing off MAGA and getting primaried and avoiding pissing off constituents to lose the general. I’ve said in other threads that those who live in red districts and states really need to put the pressure on to break through the dissonance and cowardice, I’m just skeptical that it will do much in the short term.
@DK:
The GOP has used their immovability to their great advantage, if you ask me. While it is true that you can’t negotiate with rocks, you can hit them over and over with a sledgehammer and they will eventually break. ‘Tis better to make them squirm, than to accept them as inevitable.
A reminder that some of these House Republicans are literally afraid of their Trump voters. Or, more specifically, they are concerned about violence if they dare even suggest the administration is wrong on, well, anything.
Justice Coney Barrett has received all kinds of blow back and threats over her recent vote.
It’s not that only Democrats have agency. It’s that a sizeable group of people have become almost chronically unhinged, and House Republicans are too weak (betas, maybe?/s) and too scared to do the right thing. So yes, Andy is correct–nothing will change until Democrats are elected to a majority, assuming all of the shenanigans Republicans are pushing around voting machines and attempts to disenfranchise women don’t work as intended.
@Scott F.: The way to break Republicans is to vote for Democrats up and downballot in every election, every year for the foreseeable future — then push, plead, scold, shame Dems into doing what we need done.
If Republican intransigence is advantageous, it’s in large part because so many should-be Dem voters use their allies’ flaws, errors, and imperfections as an excuse to not vote for Dems.
As a lapsed McCain Republican and member of demos that vote Democratic at an 80+% clip, it mystifies me that other folks can’t figure this out.
I’m done begging my fellow Amerikkkans to help themselves, will instead increase the number of months I already spend yearly based in Berlin. The dead can bury their own dead.
@Andy & @Jen:
Very importantly, Andy is also pounding his own local GOP congressman with the calls & letters sledgehammer. That’s all I’m asking for.
It’s good they’re afraid of their Trumpers. Show them they need to fear their other constituents as well. Exhaust them as they try to “surf the thin line” between their MAGA base and the gettable voters in their districts come the general. Show them that moderation is better than loss of power.
@Scott F.:
Every district will be a bit different. Mine was traditionally very red but is trending blue, and the Cook PVI has it at only +5 right now. In that situation, the goal is to get my rep to fear losing the general at least as much as fear of losing the primary – enough to grow a teeny tiny bit of a spine. If this were an R+20 district, this strategy would probably be a waste of time, but even here, it’s still a long shot.
For 2026, I have low expectations for Democrats to actually win here, but if Trump does crash the economy or there is a recession, all bets are off.
At the same time, Democrats can’t phone it in. The reality is that the Democratic party is still historically unpopular for various reasons that we don’t need to belabor here, but their brand is something they need to actively work on improving. Added to that, in a district like mine, Democrats have historically not put in much effort. They have run poor candidates (or no candidates at all for some offices) with minimal resources.
But this gets us back to the problems of our overly democratic primary system. Democratic primary voters here tend to choose progressive candidates with no hope of winning instead of a John Fetterman type who would be much more competitive.
@Andy:
The Republican Congress has indeed ceded it’s Constitutional prerogatives.
I believe that they (uneasily) like what’s happening now because it is Trump and Musk who are taking chainsaws to the Federal Government, and in the short-term if the excrement hits the fan then they believe that Trump takes the hit, if only in polling. All the while nobody can force Republicans to go on the record with votes that approve (or disapprove) of the carnage.
The long run? Republicans are betting that; (1) above all else, there will NOT be a recession, (2) there will not be inflation, higher interest rates and staglation, (3) Musk’s destruction of many Federal Department and Agencies will be done, and (4) Musk will be gone. All of this well before the 2026 midterm election season.
You know, it is hard to think ahead to the 2026 midterms because the newscycle is going to give us about 200 new outrages before we turn the calendar.
When one of my nephews was a toddler, he loved eating a particular type of pre-toasted bread. But he’d cry and refuse it if it was broken, even a little. When he accepted a whole one, he’d cry and refused to eat it after he took a bite, presumably because it now looked broken. But he wouldn’t let anyone take it from him, not even to exchange it for a new, whole piece.
I sometimes see the American electorate like this*. They want the trickle down model, but with good wages and working conditions. When told they can have one or the other, they cry and vote Republiqan, presumably because they believe the lie that pumping more wealth to the rich will fix things.
*This is not exclusively an American attitude, but it’s rarely so starkly ideological.
@Jen:
@Andy:
@DK:
What a bunch of horseshit. One GOP senator, in the minority, kept over 400 military officers from getting promotions they deserved.
Gretchen Whitmer, had a chance last week, to become the front runner for the Dem nomination in 2028.o She went to the White House, hoping to get some clear answers on tariffs, which affect her state tremendously. She didn’t get any answers. Instead, Trump used her like a prop in several photo ops, while she tried to hide; in photos which have gone viral.
But she, and her team, were too freaking weak, and/or scared.
If, at that point, Whitmer had stood up and said, “I came to the White House to get clarity on tariffs so that I can communicate to the good people of Michigan how then can best plan their lives going forward. I’m sorry. But I”m leaving. These two executive orders go against everything America is supposed to stand for, and I do not support them in any way. The people of Michigan want positive action to make their lives better. Going after two private citizens and a private law firm for retribution will not lower prices, will not improve health care, and will not help Michiganders in any way.”
But no. Instead, she completely torched any chance she had for 2028.
WTF????
They’re just not listening. What would have been the downside to challenging Trump in that moment??? MAGA would have been mad at her? Trump would have threatened Michigan? Both of those would have been good for her.
Where is the Democratic group going down to El Salvador on a diplomatic mission to actually find out what’s happening to Garcia in prison?
Where is the Democratic Senator calling for a blockage of everything the Administration is trying to do until they get answers?
Other than Bernie and AOC, who I saw on Saturday here in Los Angeles, no one seems to be even trying to fight.
Fucking cowards.
@EddieInCA:
No longer in DR?
I think those are all good ideas, but they are all mostly performative “fighting,” which is important to maintaining morale but doesn’t actually accomplish much beyond that. The most important fight was back in November, and that fight was decisively lost.
A ~60-40 split shows a divided Democratic coalition—it’s far from a sign that Democrats should go all in. Those numbers will also vary considerably by region, state, and locality.
For example, you dump on Whitmer here, but she’s the governor of Michigan, which was basically split 50-50 in the election, with Trump winning by 1.4 points. And yeah, she got played, and they were unprepared for that – shit happens dude. It’s easy to come up with things one should have said or done after the fact – just chalk up the error, learn from it, and move on. Instead you want to purge Whitmer for that?
And yeah, it’s easy for Sanders and AOC, who just happen to be from deep blue states in completely safe seats on the left wing of the party, to go out and play to their base constituencies. Definitely good for morale but it’s mostly preaching to the choir. Few Democratic politicians are in such a comfortable and safe political position. Certainly not Whitmer! Expecting them to do the same is unrealistic at best. But even Sanders has pulled his punches regarding tariffs, having long been in the pro-tariff part of the Democratic coalition. Is he a coward too?
YMMV, but personally, I think the circular firing squad is counterproductive.
@EddieInCA:
This is objectively false.
But shows how deeply Republican propaganda machine has infected not all but most white Americans (and Latino men) with Democrat Derangement Syndrome—how a majority of white voters and Latino male voters, and a supermajority of white male voters picked Trump over candidates who would have improved their lives.
When Trump won, Bernie pledged to work with him. Bernie is wobbly on Trump’s tariffs, just like Bernie once did the bidding of the corporate gun lobby. I suppose so-called cowardice is okay when he does it?
And it’s not Bernie or AOC organizing an El Salvadoran delegation. Sen. Van Hollen is. But rather than pay attention to what Dems actually do, many would rather get all tingly about pols from deep blue districts rallying 0.05% of L.A.’s population. It takes no courage to regurgitate the pundit patriarchy’s tired Dems in Disarray claptrap.
It’s those resisting white Amerikkka’s fashionable Democrat Derangement Syndrome who are courageous. Starting with the 92% of Black women voters, 85% of LGBT voters, and 78% of Black men who rejected the anti-Dem mass psychosis.
Four: Schumer was right not to tie Dems to the unpopular Trump economy by aiding MAGA’s efforts to shutdown government. Last month’s CBS/YouGov poll had Americans blaming economic pain on Biden over Trump, 38%-32%. This week, that poll showed 54% of blaming Trump, with Biden a mere memory.
If elections continue going like the Wisconsin supreme court contest—allowing voters to check Trump’s fascist designs—we should thank Schumer for providing space for Americans to blame all economic pain on Trumpers.
Screaming into a mic before one’s own choir is not the only way to “fight.” Restraint is also a strategy. This country can’t elect a Merkel or a Sheinbaum because too many of us are too unserious to appreciate the latter. All style over substance, all performance over policy.
So again: trashing allies hurts efforts to build the durable, long-term coalition needed to elect those who will overhaul the tax code, then invest that revenue in accessible, high quality, and affordable healthcare, education, transportation, public safety, infrastructure, and energy—so the U.S. can might join the rest of the Western world in the 21st century.
Instead, we should vote Democratic up and downballot in every election for the foreseeable future.
But the usual suspects from the usual demos think they know better (they don’t), and think they have all the solutions (they don’t). So they’ll keep stubbornly and arrogantly flogging their Fuck Joe Biden Democratic Derangement Syndrome—then wonder why the people at their Thanksgiving tables vote like lunatics.
And that’s why I’m going to be spending most of my years now in countries where the white majorities are not selfish and stupid. Just wish I could take the 92%, 85%, and 78% with me.
Nothing, of course. Trump has already said he’d like to do exactly that. He told Bukele to build another five prisons.
There is no significant difference between the current regime in the US and Putin’s Russia. At issue is when the resistance is going to stop stating that obvious truth over and over and do something about it. Historically, if authoritarian regimes are not stopped early, they usually succeed in establishing such an effectively oppressive police state that they can only be ousted by war or revolution.
@DK:
Just curious what part of Berlin you stay/live in? My brother has lived there for about 35 years now; he’s currently near Charlottenburg. I get over there as often as I can (not as often as I’d like).
@Andy: Wow, small world. My place is in Charlottenburg as well. Right by the Ernst-Reuter-Platz U-bahn station.
Come on over, the water’s warm!