Deported Without Trial: The Case of Kilmar Garcia and the Death of Due Process
- Jack
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
In an admitted administrative error, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, current legal resident of Maryland who is married to a US citizen and has three children, was arrested by immigration authorities on March 12th 2025, and sent to El Salvador on March 15th.
Why is it being called wrongful? Garcia is an El Salvadorian national who entered the US illegally in 2011. After a hearing in 2019, an immigration judge granted a withholding of removal order stating that it was unsafe to deport him back to his native country (due to threats on his life from a gang).
Trump’s decision was also rebuked by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the federal appeals court, who pointed out that the Trump administration itself admitted to making a mistake and should facilitate his return as soon as possible.
On April 10, The Supreme Court ruled the deportation illegal, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor calling the administration’s actions a “warrantless arrest without basis in law.”
On April 17, after various unsuccessful attempts, Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen visited Garcia and demanded his return. On April 21st, the El Salvadoran Government moved him from the infamous CECOT prison to Centro Industrial Penitentiary in Santa Ana where he still resides as of the writing of this article.
Those are the cold facts of this story. But what are the implications of it? What does it mean for the rule of law when people can be snatched up and sent to one of the world's most brutal prisons without a trial? It doesn't matter if he's a citizen. It doesn't matter if he really is a member of MS13. You need a trial to prove it first. That's what Due Process is for. The state needs to prove that it's correct before it sends someone away. You can't deport people on suspicion alone.
Who will they go after next? Foreign college students are already in their crosshairs, with some having their visas revoked for speaking out against Israel. What about US citizens? Trump is already considering deporting violent US criminals to El Salvadoran prisons. He believes that they might need to build more prisons for all the people he wants to send. And with his penchant ignoring Due Process and court orders, the path to fascism has already been paved. It's only a question of who Trump will run over as he barrels down it.
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