Due Process is Not a Distraction

A constitutional crisis demands real leadership

Last week, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen took an extraordinary step in attempting to secure the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the United States. The Senator flew to El Salvador and was initially stonewalled from meeting with Garcia, one of the people at the center of the Trump administration’s unrepentant attacks against residency status, due process, and judicial decisions.

After reminding the government of El Salvador that they are a party to the international covenant on civil and political rights, ostensibly accusing the country and its authoritarian leader of violating international law, Van Hollen was able to meet with Garcia.

The meeting has borne fruit in more ways than one. Since the meeting, Garcia has been moved from the brutal maximum-security CECOT prison to a lower-level facility in Santa Ana.

Aside from this, a stunning development has also happened on the issue of immigration — some Democrats have relearned the activity of doing political action on the issue.

Congressmembers have followed Van Hollen’s lead and traveled to El Salvador for the same endeavor. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has committed to boycotting and divesting from El Salvador. And finally, members of both Houses have visited detained legal residents such as Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Öztürk, and Mohsen Mahdawi.

These are positive developments — both politically and morally — but some Democrats are determined to undermine these efforts.

California Governor Gavin Newsom opted to call the deportation of Garcia and Trump’s handling of it as “the distraction of the day.”

To be clear, Newsom did condemn the act of deporting Garcia, but Newsom decided to play pundit here and focus on optics when dealing with a constitutional crisis.

For too many Democrats, the topic of immigration is treated as a boogeyman to otherwise be avoided. This plays right into the hands of the right-wing.

For four years under the Biden administration, the topic of immigration receded from Democratic talking points and, if anything, the Democratic party embraced some of the Trump Part 1-era tactics, thereby helping shift the entire narrative of immigration to the right.

Instead of embracing the rhetoric they espoused on fighting for immigrant rights during those years, they created an empty vacuum of space, which then became fully occupied by the right-wing.

On every issue, a counterargument will always be necessary, otherwise you will empower a new center-of-gravity where political discussion takes place.

Imagine if Democrats kicked the can on this specific issue of throwing scores of immigrants, with no due process, into an El Salvador gulag. If no political party is willing to object to this lawlessness, this behavior will become the terrain of future conversations on the issue.

Why would a functioning political party ever allow that to happen?

So that is both the political and moral look at this issue, but even now, we are seeing rapid change in American sentiment on immigration. New polling show Trump’s actions on immigration are being viewed more negatively than favorably.

This does not happen and will not continue to happen unless the issue is raised with a counter-message from the opposition party. Trump’s alleged strongest issue is now becoming a loser for him. This is how politics should work.

The reality is people like Newsom, John Fetterman, and other political hacks that cynically move towards normalizing extremist positions that only advantage the right-wing are not fit to lead.

Or as Senator Van Hollen put it:

"I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind. Anyone who can't stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn't deserve to lead.”

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US Slop

• Israel’s far-right security minister to visit Yale day after Mar-a-Lago dinner - The Guardian

• Yale students protest far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir - The New York Times

• Barnard protestors threatened with bomb threats, were initially blamed for it - The Intercept

• Fearing Trump’s Visa Crackdown, College Students Race to Scrub Op-Eds - WSJ

• Microsoft faces growing unrest over role in Israel’s war on Gaza: ‘Close to a tipping point - The Guardian

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• No ongoing negotiations on tariffs between China and US; China says US should stop creating confusion - The Chinese Embassy

• Polls Show Trump’s Approval Rating on Immigration Going South - Intelligencer

• Trump DOJ Defunds National Prison Rape Resource Center - The Appeal

• The Ugly Historical Echoes of RFK’s Comments on Autism - New York Times

• Trump targets Democratic fundraising powerhouse ActBlue with DOJ probe - CNN

• Millions of U.S. measles cases forecast over 25 years if shots decline - Washington Post

• The Biden Official Who Doesn’t Oppose Trump’s Student Deportations - The New Yorker

• Education Department to begin garnishing wages on defaulted student loan borrowers - Politico

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• Training for NYPD Officers Categorized the Keffiyeh and Watermelon as Antisemitic Symbols - Jewish Currents

• Larry David skewers Bill Maher’s lovefest with Donald Trump - New York Times

• '60 Minutes' chief resigns, saying show's independence was compromised - NPR

• Conor Lamb: CECOT is a ‘gulag’ - Semafor

• Zuckerberg shuts down schools for low-income families he funds - SFGate

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World Slop

• Doctors deliver lifesaving care in ravaged Gaza-healthcare system - The New Yorker

• WFP runs out of food stocks in Gaza as border crossings remain closed - WFP

• "I don't see the Palestinians as people anymore": Israelis, in their own words, on the war in Gaza and themselves - De Standaard

• Children in school shelter among 25 killed in wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza - The Guardian

• Israel ends mention of humanitarian zones as Gaza war grinds on - The Guardian

• 'Intolerable': UK, France, Germany slam Israel’s over 50-day plus block on Gaza aid - Anadolu Ajansi

• ‘No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza,’ Israel defense minister says - France24

• Don't Look Away: Israel's Annexation of the West Bank Is Already Here - Haaretz

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• Massive Russian strike on Ukraine's capital kills several people, injures dozens - CBS News

• Actor Pedro Pascal calls J.K. Rowling's anti-trans social post 'heinous' - NBC News

• Rep. Garcia returns from El Salvador with a sliver of hope for deported gay hairdresser - LA Times

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