“Six years later, without notice, legal justification, or due process, officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (‘ICE’)... put him on a plane bound for the Terrorism Confinement Center (‘CECOT’) in El Salvador... They had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador—let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Three days later, on March 15, 2025, without any notice, legal process, or hearing, ICE forcibly transported Abrego Garcia to the Terrorism Confinement Center (‘CECOT’) in El Salvador... Their heads were shaved, and they were marched into CECOT to join nearly 40,000 other prisoners held in some of the most inhumane and squalid conditions known in any carceral system.”
“Defendants have claimed—without any evidence—that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 and then housed him among the chief rival gang, Barrio 18. Not to mention that Barrio 18 is the very gang whose years’ long persecution of Abrego Garcia resulted in his withholding from removal to El Salvador.”
The “no legal authority to arrest him” seems a strange claim as he was long ago deemed deportable, just apparently not to El Salvador. So it was fine for him to be detained and deported, just to somewhere other than El Salvador
> THE COURT: Can we talk about, then, just very practically, why can’t the United States get Mr. Abrego Garcia back?
> MR. REUVENI [the Government's lawyer]: Your Honor, I will say, for the Court's awareness, that when this case landed on my desk, the first thing I did was ask my clients that very question. I’ve not received, to date, an answer that I find satisfactory.
The people doing this are not serious people. I don't know whether that should scare me more, or less.
It's important to keep in mind what the government is saying here. Set aside the specifics of who this individual is or where they originally came from and grasp what Trump is trying to argue here.
> Although the legal basis for the mass removal of hundreds of individuals to El Salvador remains disturbingly unclear, Abrego Garcia’s case is categorically different—there were no legalgrounds whatsoever for his arrest, detention, or removal. Nor does any evidence suggest thatAbrego Garcia is being held in CECOT at the behest of Salvadoran authorities to answer for crimesin that country. _Rather, his detention appears wholly lawless._
In short, they kidnapped someone--I'm using that word precisely because it was "lawless" and that's what elevates a detention to a kidnapping--and flew them to a foreign prison without notice, without hearing. From the street, transported hooded to a plan, and imprisoned in medieval conditions.
It was a mistake they concede. Oh well. Can't do anything about it now.
Do not argue that this individual should not have received a chance to have a court recognize the mistake. There is nothing separating your position from his. If they can kidnap him they can kidnap you. The government's position is, simply put, no one can stop them if they do.
We absolve government officials and agents of legal liability for almost every act they do as part of their job, but that's under the assumption that (1) fear of prosecution would paralyze every decision, and (2) the government acts in good faith. Previously, this was taken to be an impenetrable defense. A government too frightened to do anything is useless. And it takes a lot to prove the existence of malice and the absence of desire to help the country.
But I can't see any reason besides malice, or cruel disregard for human rights, behind continually ignoring the usual legal process when they'd already been reminded what it was and that they should stop violating it. The executive staff must have explicitly worded their demands so that the agents in the field circumvented this man's due process. I refuse to believe everyone in the chain was identically derelict in their duties when passing along commands. There was no good faith, and every decision maker behind this kidnapping should be given their own days in court.
As for the paralysis of fear, this should be like accepting a bribe: we want officials to fear prosecution.
I think there's another point that makes this even more surreal. The United States is paying El Salvador to detain these people. So the DOJ claim includes that the DOJ doesn't believe the federal judiciary has legal authority to prevent the United States from continuing to pay to detain people in other countries.
Do you have sources for any of these statements? I understand he was deportable but just had a clause that he should not got to El Salvador (where he was from) which for whatever reason got missed. I mean where else would he be deported to if not his country of origin? Kind of a strange case, and will be interesting to watch it unfold.
“Six years later, without notice, legal justification, or due process, officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (‘ICE’)... put him on a plane bound for the Terrorism Confinement Center (‘CECOT’) in El Salvador... They had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador—let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Three days later, on March 15, 2025, without any notice, legal process, or hearing, ICE forcibly transported Abrego Garcia to the Terrorism Confinement Center (‘CECOT’) in El Salvador... Their heads were shaved, and they were marched into CECOT to join nearly 40,000 other prisoners held in some of the most inhumane and squalid conditions known in any carceral system.”
“Defendants have claimed—without any evidence—that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 and then housed him among the chief rival gang, Barrio 18. Not to mention that Barrio 18 is the very gang whose years’ long persecution of Abrego Garcia resulted in his withholding from removal to El Salvador.”
The “no legal authority to arrest him” seems a strange claim as he was long ago deemed deportable, just apparently not to El Salvador. So it was fine for him to be detained and deported, just to somewhere other than El Salvador
> THE COURT: Can we talk about, then, just very practically, why can’t the United States get Mr. Abrego Garcia back?
> MR. REUVENI [the Government's lawyer]: Your Honor, I will say, for the Court's awareness, that when this case landed on my desk, the first thing I did was ask my clients that very question. I’ve not received, to date, an answer that I find satisfactory.
The people doing this are not serious people. I don't know whether that should scare me more, or less.
Note the government lawyer who acknowledged this on court was dismissed by the US government...
"Justice Dept. suspends lawyer who acknowledged deportation was a mistake" - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/05/...
"Trump says he'd 'love' to send American citizens to El Salvador federal prison" - https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-hed-love...
This kind of horrifying behavior - like most things people are pointing out happening now - isn’t new
A 2011 study indicated at least 1% of deportations were consistently US citizens with no rectifications or resolution
Page 629 from this study:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1931703
I’m glad people starting to pay attention to this kind of stuff
The Salvadoran terror jail is definitely new
It's important to keep in mind what the government is saying here. Set aside the specifics of who this individual is or where they originally came from and grasp what Trump is trying to argue here.
> Although the legal basis for the mass removal of hundreds of individuals to El Salvador remains disturbingly unclear, Abrego Garcia’s case is categorically different—there were no legalgrounds whatsoever for his arrest, detention, or removal. Nor does any evidence suggest thatAbrego Garcia is being held in CECOT at the behest of Salvadoran authorities to answer for crimesin that country. _Rather, his detention appears wholly lawless._
In short, they kidnapped someone--I'm using that word precisely because it was "lawless" and that's what elevates a detention to a kidnapping--and flew them to a foreign prison without notice, without hearing. From the street, transported hooded to a plan, and imprisoned in medieval conditions.
It was a mistake they concede. Oh well. Can't do anything about it now.
Do not argue that this individual should not have received a chance to have a court recognize the mistake. There is nothing separating your position from his. If they can kidnap him they can kidnap you. The government's position is, simply put, no one can stop them if they do.
We absolve government officials and agents of legal liability for almost every act they do as part of their job, but that's under the assumption that (1) fear of prosecution would paralyze every decision, and (2) the government acts in good faith. Previously, this was taken to be an impenetrable defense. A government too frightened to do anything is useless. And it takes a lot to prove the existence of malice and the absence of desire to help the country.
But I can't see any reason besides malice, or cruel disregard for human rights, behind continually ignoring the usual legal process when they'd already been reminded what it was and that they should stop violating it. The executive staff must have explicitly worded their demands so that the agents in the field circumvented this man's due process. I refuse to believe everyone in the chain was identically derelict in their duties when passing along commands. There was no good faith, and every decision maker behind this kidnapping should be given their own days in court.
As for the paralysis of fear, this should be like accepting a bribe: we want officials to fear prosecution.
I think there's another point that makes this even more surreal. The United States is paying El Salvador to detain these people. So the DOJ claim includes that the DOJ doesn't believe the federal judiciary has legal authority to prevent the United States from continuing to pay to detain people in other countries.
Do you have sources for any of these statements? I understand he was deportable but just had a clause that he should not got to El Salvador (where he was from) which for whatever reason got missed. I mean where else would he be deported to if not his country of origin? Kind of a strange case, and will be interesting to watch it unfold.
[flagged]
[flagged]