It turns out the Trump administration “acknowledged in a court filing on Monday that it sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador by mistake”. In retrospect, this isn’t terribly surprising given he was victim of a political stunt. Apparently the proof these men were gang members is that they had tattoos. The list of tattoos that could get a person summerially deported include a crown and this logo:
Vice President JD Vance wrote on Twitter:
My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize.
But, of course, the person in question was not a gang member and was in the US legally. Lawyers representing the administration admitted that this was a mistake. They further argued that they could not correct the mistake because Garcia was already in El Salvador.
What’s gross is violating the Fifth Amendment:
No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
There aren’t exceptions such as “unless he is a gang member” or “unless he’s here illegally” or “unless it’s a publicity stunt designed to make the president look tough”. It says “no person” and that means anyone.
There’s a reason for this. Due process prevents a government from simply asserting that someone should be “deprived of life, liberty, or property” and using its power to make that happen. We don’t have a king and we don’t allow our president to be a dictator even in times of war. It is gross to pretend that we do.