Republicans believe that only people they approve of deserve due process. That is not how America works, and the real test of the nation’s character is when the rights of bad people have to be protected.
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The Trump administration probably felt that it scored a major coup last week when it indicted Kilmar Abrego Garcia and brought him back to the United States so that he can stand trial and face human trafficking charges.
It did not.
First of all, as we noted at the time, this development shows that everybody from Trump on down lied about not being able to bring the mistakenly deported man back from El Salvador. Some of these lies were told under oath and in court, and we hope that will have consequences (spoiler alert: it will not).
More importantly, this supposed victory shows that the administration fundamentally does not understand what is really at issue here, and how much is at stake.
Republicans and their allies in the media want to make this about the individuals involved, i.e., Abrego Garcia and all of the other “terrorists” and “gang members” ICE has rounded up and shipped off to a foreign prison camp.
The narrative is that their removal makes Americans “safer,” and anybody who opposes these actions sympathizes with “dangerous criminals” and wants them “back on the streets.”
To Trump and his enablers, the fact that Abrego Garcia was accused of domestic violence and now of human trafficking (even though it seems quite possible that these charges may be trumped up) demonstrates that he deserved the treatment he got.
This is why the likes of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Attorney General Pam Bondi, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and others keep calling him a terrorist and insinuate that he is involved in a long list of illegal activities, from soliciting child pornography to murder.
In their eyes, that justifies any treatment of him.
In reality, however, what it shows is that they have no respect for the rule of law, for the Constitution, and for what actually makes America great.
In truth, when it comes to his illegal deportation to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia is the victim. It doesn’t matter which crimes he has committed or is accused of having committed; anybody who stands up for his rights is to be commended, while anybody who does not must be condemned.
Because here is the thing: It’s easy to be an advocate for “good” people.
In light of the situation playing out in Los Angeles, let’s use the example of police brutality.
Picture this scene: A blonde 11-year-old girl is selling lemonade and cookies in front of her house to raise money for her cancer-stricken baby brother. She made a sign with stickers and glitter pens, and all the neighbors came out to support her. Then a patrol car rolls up, a couple of officers get out, and they inform little Madison that she does not have a license to sell lemonade in the state of Minnesota.
They ask if she would agree to be searched for contraband. Madison doesn’t know what’s going on and therefore does not immediately comply. That results in her getting clubbed in the face with a baton, and, while she is crying, with blood gushing out of a head wound, the cops kick over the lemonade stand and seize her $23.50.
And all of this is being recorded.
What do you think is going to happen?
Do you doubt that the video would go viral, result in a national outcry, and the cops would end up getting fired? Nobody is going to say that Madison should have complied more quickly or that she was technically committing a crime by selling non-FDA-approved food from an unlicensed business.
Because that would be insane!
In other words, it’s easy to complain about police brutality or some other form of government overreach when the victim is an adorable young girl. It’s much harder when it’s an undocumented immigrant with facial tattoos and a history of violent crime… or a guy illegally selling cigarettes, or using counterfeit currency at a convenience store.
And yet, under the Constitution, all of them enjoy the same protections.
For all their talk about law and order, this is something Republicans don’t want to be true. They do not want everybody to have the same rights.
And that is precisely why Fox News is spending so much time covering crimes committed by “illegals.” The point is to make people think of immigrants as less deserving of the rights that all residents of the United States enjoy.
But that’s not how civil rights work.
Standing up for Abrego Garcia does not mean condoning domestic abuse or human trafficking. Those things aren’t the issue here, no matter how much Republicans are trying to link them.
It is entirely possible to want Abrego Garcia to enjoy due process while also insisting he be held to account for any crimes he may have committed.
In fact, that is the only sensible position.
What makes America great is that even the worst of the worst have rights, and the government doesn’t get to choose who enjoys the protection that the Constitution affords us all.
