Living up to a basic truth
When you make a mistake, you fix it
With one phone call, Donald Trump could get Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the US.
This is the irrefutable truth.
Nobody disputes that the Trump administration made a mistake sending Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison. They’ve admitted it.
Nobody disputes the US Supreme Court unanimously told the administration to facilitate his release and treat his case like they hadn’t made the mistake in the first place.
This means, once returned, Abrego Garcia should get his day in court.
Yet, Trump refuses to make one simple phone call. Instead, he and his roster of clever lawyers, rightwing media supporters and sycophantic followers in Congress concoct reasons why the simple is the impossible.
Trump’s lawyers futz over the words “facilitate” and “effectuate.”
His top aides pretend that the most powerful man in the world is helpless before tiny El Salvador.
The president of El Salvador, a Trump ally, plays along with the charade. He deems it “preposterous” to do the right thing.
Why not? Trump is paying his government millions of dollars. He’ll do what he’s asked to do.
Chuck Grassley plays his part. He, too, pretends that this is all up to El Salvador, that the US has no power.
"It's not a question of the president following the court order,” Grassley told reporters following a town hall meeting, according to the Des Moines Register. “It's a question of, is the president of El Salvador going to do what our Supreme Court wants done? And obviously our Supreme Court doesn't have any control over him, and he says he's not going to return him.”
Grassley surely knows this is nonsense.
If Grassley were really the plain-speaking farmer that is his brand, he would recognize what honest Iowans know: When you make a mistake, you fix it. You don’t try to duck responsibility or hire a bunch of lawyers to invent excuses. You own up to your error and you make it right.
Have we so lost our way in this country that this isn’t obvious?
It doesn’t matter whether Abrego Garcia is a gang member or not. I realize there is a dispute over this. An immigration judge said in 2019 that the evidence he had gang ties was credible. However, a federal appeals court said the evidence wasn’t there to support the allegation. Abrego Garcia, who’s been living in Maryland, has denied gang membership.
I have no idea who’s telling the truth. It doesn’t matter. He should have his day in court. The Supreme Court clearly said he has a right to it.
The question now is not—as Grassley said—whether the president of El Salvador will do the right thing. It’s whether Donald Trump will do the right thing. Whether Trump will fix his administration’s mistake.
Trump could end this charade with one phone call. Is Nayib Bukele going to refuse him? Give me a break.
Only the corrupt or clueless would believe this.
The fact is this case perfectly encapsulates why so many people are frustrated with politics.
Trump’s people screwed up. They admitted it. Now, they are hiding behind the phony idea there are legal issues and constitutional principles that are stopping them from making things right.
The constitutional issues—if there are any—would go away if Trump just did what we instruct our children: When you make a mistake, you fix it.
Trump could rectify this. Only his lack of character stands in the way.
Unfortunately, this is the man Americans elected president last fall. And as much as I don’t like the decision, the US now has to live with Trump’s character defects. But it doesn’t mean that the rest of us—including his supporters—have to share those defects.
We should all demand that Trump make this right.
It shouldn’t be that hard to simply say it was a mistake to deport this man, but we’re going to fix it. He may be deported again, anyway, but a job worth doing is worth doing right.
All it would take is one phone call.
It’s not just that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has a right to this. It’s that we as Americans do, too.
The problem is even bigger than Kilmar because none of them had due process. Trump’s insistence that he is above the law including the Supreme Court is the scariest part of this situation and we are only in the very beginning of his term.
If Mr. Garcia should happen to pass-away while in prison in ElSalvador--Trump and the GOP can kiss any future hopes of holding onto power. We have seen the evil that one person can get away with---the time to do something is now---not next year or 2028---BUT RIGHT NOW.