Several people have asked me whether I support Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the man deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration? Garcia’s arrest and deportation were deemed illegal, forcing Trump and his merry band of fascists to facilitate the return of Garcia to the United States.
My response is short and to the point: I support the rule of law. If Garcia broke the law, he should be prosecuted. However, it is the Trump administration that broke the law when it detained and deported Garcia without proper court hearings. The Trump administration kidnapped Garcia and shipped him off to a country where he has no legal recourse or standing. This decision by the Trump Administration was punitive and heartless, a denial of laws that have governed our country for much of our history. Of course, this lawbreaking is by design. The goal is to collapse the Federal government, unleashing brute, lawless fascism on the American people.
If the courts decide Garcia is here illegally AND a criminal, then I support whatever outcome the courts decide. Again, we (allegedly) are a nation of laws. We have a border and immigration problem, one that has been festering on and off for decades. The difference now, of course, is that the Trump Racist Collective has turned people of color — legal citizens or not — into enemies of the state.
It is up to the federal courts to decide the disposition of Garcia’s case. It will be interesting to see what the U.S. Supreme Court decides. If the court concludes that Trump and his fellow racists are right and Garcia does not have equal protection under the law — including habeas corpus — his deportation is the least of our problems. Without the rule of law and the consent of the people, our republic ceases to exist.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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