This is due process....finally.
Much has been said about the arrest and deportation to a prison in El Salvador of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
After claiming that there was nothing they could do to secure his return to the US, and defying a court order, suddenly the government has succeeded in having him returned. It wasn't that difficult. The government just didn't want to and fought the court and lost. The rule of law and the Constitution prevailed and that is a good thing.
Reporting from Jordan Rubin w/MSNBC, ABC and NBC are the sources for the following:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S. to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee, the Justice Department said Friday, in a case that became emblematic of the combined coarseness and incompetence behind the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Maryland resident, who was illegally deported to El Salvador in March, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts: conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gains and the unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gains, according to a copy of the indictment obtained by NBC News. ABC News first reported the indictment.
The indictment alleges that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang and took part in a multiyear conspiracy to move people from Texas deeper into the country:
[Abrego Garcia] used his status in MS-13 to further his criminal activity. Over the course of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens who had no authorization to be present in the United States, and many of whom were MS-13 members and associates. The co-conspirators also worked with transnational criminal organizations in Mexico to transport undocumented aliens through Mexico and into the United States.
Defense attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a statement that bringing Abrego Garcia back for prosecution “is an abuse of power, not justice.”
“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him. This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after.”
A judge in 2019 had ordered Abrego Garcia not to be removed to El Salvador, due to the potential persecution the Salvadoran native could face there.
Nonetheless, in March, federal officials detained Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, and flew him and others to a notorious prison in El Salvador, where he and others have been held without having been convicted of, or charged with, any crime. (Others have brought separate litigation.)
The government has argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which it has deemed a foreign terrorist organization. Addressing that accusation during the litigation, Reagan-appointed appellate Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote, “Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process.”
We all want violent criminals brought to justice. No argument there....but we have a Constitution and laws that guarantee everyone their opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law. Nobody should be against that. If you break the law, you get charged with a crime, and evidence is brought forward to support the charges, and a ruling is made based on that evidence. Did I mention innocent until proven guilty? That too is a bedrock of our Constitution and rule of law. It is called due process and the government should follow the rule of law and go through the process. They can not be allowed to edit or ignore due process.
Why did the government not charge Garcia with these violations noted in the enforcement, at the start? Why did they ignore the Constitution and the rule of law? The government remains mute to these questions.
This we know for sure: the government ignored the Constitution and the rule of law.
Now, charges have been brought against Garcia. The evidence will prove his guilt, or it won't, and he will be ruled innocent.
That is all I and many others like me, want.
We want the Constitution and the rule of law to apply to everyone. That means a guarantee of due process.
You don't get to skip elements of due process at your whim.
After claiming that there was nothing they could do to secure his return to the US, and defying a court order, suddenly the government has succeeded in having him returned. It wasn't that difficult. The government just didn't want to and fought the court and lost. The rule of law and the Constitution prevailed and that is a good thing.
Reporting from Jordan Rubin w/MSNBC, ABC and NBC are the sources for the following:
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S. to face federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee, the Justice Department said Friday, in a case that became emblematic of the combined coarseness and incompetence behind the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Maryland resident, who was illegally deported to El Salvador in March, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts: conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gains and the unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gains, according to a copy of the indictment obtained by NBC News. ABC News first reported the indictment.
The indictment alleges that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang and took part in a multiyear conspiracy to move people from Texas deeper into the country:
[Abrego Garcia] used his status in MS-13 to further his criminal activity. Over the course of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands of undocumented aliens who had no authorization to be present in the United States, and many of whom were MS-13 members and associates. The co-conspirators also worked with transnational criminal organizations in Mexico to transport undocumented aliens through Mexico and into the United States.
Defense attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a statement that bringing Abrego Garcia back for prosecution “is an abuse of power, not justice.”
“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him. This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after.”
A judge in 2019 had ordered Abrego Garcia not to be removed to El Salvador, due to the potential persecution the Salvadoran native could face there.
Nonetheless, in March, federal officials detained Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, and flew him and others to a notorious prison in El Salvador, where he and others have been held without having been convicted of, or charged with, any crime. (Others have brought separate litigation.)
The government has argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which it has deemed a foreign terrorist organization. Addressing that accusation during the litigation, Reagan-appointed appellate Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote, “Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process.”
We all want violent criminals brought to justice. No argument there....but we have a Constitution and laws that guarantee everyone their opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law. Nobody should be against that. If you break the law, you get charged with a crime, and evidence is brought forward to support the charges, and a ruling is made based on that evidence. Did I mention innocent until proven guilty? That too is a bedrock of our Constitution and rule of law. It is called due process and the government should follow the rule of law and go through the process. They can not be allowed to edit or ignore due process.
Why did the government not charge Garcia with these violations noted in the enforcement, at the start? Why did they ignore the Constitution and the rule of law? The government remains mute to these questions.
This we know for sure: the government ignored the Constitution and the rule of law.
Now, charges have been brought against Garcia. The evidence will prove his guilt, or it won't, and he will be ruled innocent.
That is all I and many others like me, want.
We want the Constitution and the rule of law to apply to everyone. That means a guarantee of due process.
You don't get to skip elements of due process at your whim.
