Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Rule of Law

Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Rule of Law

Harper Dunne, (2024-25 Iowa UNA College Ambassador from the University of Iowa)

All Americans must speak up for the immediate return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from the United States to El Salvador in March of this year. In 2019, Mr. Abrego Garcia was granted a “withholding of removal” order on the grounds that he had a well-founded fear of persecution in his home country. His removal from the country in disregard of this order represents the ability of the US executive branch to override the US judicial system and US constitution, effectively destroying a key pillar of US democracy. The removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the United States without due process is a peace, justice, and rule of law Issue, not an immigration issue.

While it is important to recognize the humanity of Abrego Garcia, the core issue is not whether this one man should be deported. The fundamental issue is the Trump administration’s violation of the right to due process, which is afforded to all who reside within American borders as given in the US Constitution’s Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Trump Administration deported Abrego Garcia without due process. He was grabbed in a traffic stop in Baltimore and immediately shipped to CECOT, El Salvador’s most notorious prison containing Salvadorian gang members and suspected terrorists, within just three days. If he was afforded his constitutional right to due process, he would most certainly still be in the United States - he has committed no crime and, as previously mentioned, has a withholding of removal order protecting him from being deported to El Salvador. 

The timeline of events related to this case shows the government’s failure to uphold due process norms. On March 31, Justice Department attorneys wrote in a filing that Abrego Garcia’s imprisonment in El Salvador was “an administrative error.” On April 4, a US District Court gave an order which required the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the US by April 7th. By April 10th, the case had made it up to the Supreme Court, which ruled with no dissenting votes that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release to the US. Meanwhile, the US District Court which originally heard Abrego Garcia’s partner’s case has been requiring daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s status and the US government’s steps taken to return him, but updates have not been coming. On April 23, the federal judge who issued the order for daily updates temporarily paused this order. By May, Trump admitted in a media interview that he did have the power to get Abrego Garcia back to the US but that he would not do so.

The US government’s executive branch’s blatant disregard of the constitutional rights afforded to those who reside within US borders represents a violation of rule of law norms and democratic institutions, which is a core concern of the United Nations. Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) urges “accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” When both El Salvadorian President Bukele and US President Trump can sit in the Oval Office on April 14 and say to each other, on broadcast, that neither has the power to return Abrego Garcia, one has to wonder, where is the accountability? Where are our strong institutions? Where is the justice?

The one power everyone still has right now is their voice. Speak up. Contact your representatives in Congress and your governors. Demand that our government view the issue of Kilmar Abrego Garcia not as an immigration issue, but as a due process issue. As a Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions issue.