Around a year ago, my across-the-street neighbor Juanita passed away at the age of 94. She was a sweet and inspiring woman, and we miss her a lot.
Juanita was part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama, and she marched with Martin Luther King.
When my mom asked her if she knew Rosa Parks, she said, “Rosie? Oh yeah. She lived down the street from me. We used to wait for the bus together.”
Juanita told us that Rosa Parks wasn’t the only Black person who broke barriers and sat in the white section of the bus.
After being arrested, Parks was not aware that it would spark the Civil Rights Movement, and that her name would be known throughout the nation. Similarly, I am sure Kilmar Ábrego Garcia could never have known when he was pulled over as he drove home with his son with special needs, that he would become the face of the fight to keep due process as a right and protection in the United States.
Due process is our right to have our day in court to defend ourselves if we are accused of committing a crime, for a judge or jury to hear both sides and decide whether we are guilty or innocent. Garcia, as well as over 200 men who were deported to a notorious Prison in El Salvador, (CECOT), was not afforded those rights. If they can deny Garcia his rights, they can deny any of us our rights. Here is Kilmar’s story.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was born in El Salvador. He came to the U.S. in 2011 after threats to extort money from his family business in El Salvador, which led an immigration judge to issue a ruling or he would have to face dire consequences if he is sent back to El Salvador in 2019.
In Maryland, he has a partner and three kids and was checking in with the immigration authorities yearly. He lived in the U.S. for roughly 14 years, joined a union, and was employed full-time as a sheet metal apprentice.
In March of 2025, he was detained and sent to a detention facility in Louisiana. From there, he was sent on a plane to El Salvador. He was sent to a prison called the “Center for Terrorism Confinement” also known as CECOT, infamous for its harsh and strict conditions.
His lawyers went to court in Maryland and the government’s initial response was to recognize the error made and they say they will look into it. Nothing happened.
A judge said they are going to, “facilitate and effectuate his return” and added that his “lawless behavior is un-American. In other words, facilitating is the starting of a process but not an outcome, and means to do everything you can but if you can’t bring him back you have fulfilled your obligation.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was not allowed the merest amount of due process.
Rather than try to get him back, the government led on the theory that Garcia was a part of the upstate New York branch of MS13, a Salvadoran gang, even though he wasn’t in the gang and had never been to upstate N.Y. Even if it were true, it does not give the government the right to deport him, especially to El Salvador, where it was determined that he faced danger. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court which affirmed that his return must be facilitated.
The US understands that it is powerful enough to make this happen, but it chooses not to. The argument is that it is a pity and now that he is there and there is nothing that they can do. President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador also said he “lacked power” to return Garcia. He said it would be “preposterous” to “smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”
After Bukele refused to return Kilmar, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen flew to El Salvador. When Van Hollen asked why El Salvador was keeping Abrego Garcia, the Vice President of El Salvador did not say it was because he had committed a crime, but “because the Trump Administration is paying us to keep him here.”
At first Van Hollen was denied access to talk to Garcia, but was later given the chance. The Senator learned that Abrego Garcia was placed in a cell with 25 others at CECOT, and fearful of other prisoners in other cell blocks who taunted and yelled at him.
He was moved to a different detention center that has better conditions but no sign of release. Since arriving in El Salvador on March 15th, the senator’s meeting was his first communication with anyone from the outside world.
After Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia, Trump lashed out at the senator saying, “Look, he’s a fake. I know him. I know him all. They’re all fake, and they have no interest in that prisoner. That prisoner’s record is unbelievably bad.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a human being being treated like a commodity. He is being used by the Trump Administration and he is being used by the Bukele Administration. He has been denied due process and denied his rights while judges have told the government that this is illegal, but the government appears to have no intention of righting the wrong, much less admitting that what they are doing is wrong.
The Trump Administration has also stated that it would like to send U.S. citizens to El Salvador. If they can do this to Kilmar, they can do it to any of us.
This holds a lot of uncertainty for the future and what it should look like, therefore it is valuable to be aware of the local and national problems to see the significance of it and how it impacts you or others. Staying updated through this chronicle and other outlets will keep you informed.
Sources:
Abrego-garcia-case-exposes-the-injustices-committed-to-carry-out-trumps-mass-deportation-plan.html
Human-rights-watch-declaration-prison-conditions-el-salvador-jgg-v-trump-case
Kilmar-abrego-garcia-deported-el-salvador-trump-immigration-what-know-rcna201708
Trump-abrego-garcia-bukele-el-salvador.html
