First They Came For ...
You may be asking why I say this. If you are, I commend you because someone with even half a brain should always be asking questions. So when you do ask questions, you are forced to seek out the truth on the way to an answer.
I say this because what we are seeing right now is a government out of control, at least when one looks at it through the lens of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Let us take for example the fate of Kilmar Ábrego García. This is a man who has a legitimate United States Green Card and is not only allowed to remain in the United States, but has a protective order keeping him from being deported. He was rounded up in one of Trump's purges and sent, without due process, on a flight to El Salvador and a prison known as CECOT - a terrorist confinement center.
A lower court ordered his return, but Trump took it to the Supreme Court of the United States - who in a 9 to 0 vote in favor of Kilmar Ábrego García's return, ordered the current administration to have him brought back to the United States.
Checks and balances - that's why we have a three ringed government. Each one is watching out for and keeping the others in line so that one does not get too strong and all obey the rule of law. At least that is how it is supposed to work, except, that system only works when there is mutual respect for the law ... I will be getting to this in just a few sentences.
So Trump was ordered to get this man back by the Supreme Court, except, he does not, citing that the Office of the President has authority over foreign policy. Fine, when that policy is executed in accordance with standing law. So, by Trump claiming authority, he is also claiming that he does not have to follow the rule of law, basically, if the law does not align with his ideas, he wins by claiming to actually BE the law. In essence, Trump is claiming that the rule of law does not apply to him; that the executive branch of our government is not subject to the very checks and balances designed into our system of government; and, final authority in any matter can and will be dictated by the office of the president alone.
But there was hope in the court of public opinion, especially in light of the Supreme Court's decision - when all 3 liberal minority members (Biden & Obama appointees) AND all 6 conservative majority (3 of which Trump placed on the bench) ordered the return. Surely the administration would have seen this as a wakeup call to follow the law. Instead, the administration dug in deeper.
Then, on April 14, when the president hosted the president of El Salvador, the world was shocked again when the El Salvadoran president told the world that it would not return Kilmar Ábrego García - and our leader followed up with - "the homegrowns (referring to more US citizens) are next ... [you need to] build 5 more places" - threatening United States citizens with deportation (most likely like Kilmar Ábrego García, without even a day in court) to a prison on foreign soil without the possibility of return. Even if all charges were dismissed.
The words of Pastor Martin Niemöller are coming true right before our eyes:
"First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me"
God save us all.
Would it be legal for Trump to send U.S. citizens to El Salvador's jails?
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Trump floats sending Americans to foreign prisons. Civil rights groups say that would be illegal.
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Trump again threatens to send Americans to prisons in El Salvador
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El Salvador's leader will not return man deported from the US in error
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El Salvador's president says he won't return mistakenly deported man to U.S.
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And El Salvador says it won't return him ...
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