THE HORRIFIC CASE OF KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA
At the age of 16, Kilmar Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador for the United States after a criminal gang tried to extort his mother’s business, threatened to force his older brother to join the gang before threatening to kill him, then turned their attention to Mr. Abrego Garcia. Granted legal status by a judge eight years later due to the gang violence he faced if he returned to El Salvador, he started a family in Maryland and began working as a union apprentice construction job. He complied with requirements to check in with ICE annually.
On March 12th, Mr. Abrego Garcia left work, picked his 5 year old special needs son, and headed home when he was stopped by a Department of Homeland Security Agent who told him his immigration “status had changed,” sat him on a curb in handcuffs until his wife came to pick up their son. He was transferred to facilities in Maryland, Louisiana and Texas, then flown as part of “three planeloads” of Salvadoran and Venezuelan deportees to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador (CECOT).
Mr. Abrego Garcia never received a hearing. He has never been found by any agency or court to have gang ties. He has never been charged with or convicted of a crime.
The Trump Administration admitted in court proceedings that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.”
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a court order requiring the Trump Administration to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. Eleven days later, they still have not done so. Instead, President Trump hosted the President of El Salvador in the Oval Office, where he defiantly said he would not return Mr. Abrego Garcia. Subsequently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a scathing opinion denying the Trump Administration’s effort to avoid the court’s order, stating:
The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to demand to see his constituent — and answers. Likewise, I joined Congressman Glenn Ivey (MD-04) and other Democratic colleagues to demand answers from this Administration and for Mr. Abregio Garcia’s immediate return. I also signed a letter to Secretary Rubio asking him to provide a detailed and comprehensive response to a list of questions regarding the illegality and conditions of CECOT as the Trump Administration disappears people there. Congress, and the American people deserve some answers.
I also shared my thoughts on this case with Zerlina Maxwell on Mornings with Zerlina.
Due process is an essential American value enshrined in the Constitution that applies to everyone in the United States. On January 20th, President Trump swore that he would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, yet his actions seek to shred it to pieces, even as his Administration considers doing to U.S. citizens what they did to Mr. Abrego Garcia. I will continue to monitor and take action against these horrifying actions.
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