There has been so much harrowing news related to the overly aggressive anti-immigrant agenda that Donald Trump has been pushing that sometimes stories that once held national attention get forgotten. This is one update that we are glad to share and even more glad to hear.
Many of you remember the story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadorian man who was illegally deported back to a mega-prison in his home country against an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that his potential removal should be withheld.
Abrego Garcia argued that there was a high potential for gang violence against him should he return to El Salvador, and the judge received that and granted him a stay in the United States while he awaited asylum, as he had never been arrested or charged with a crime during his time here.
It should come as no surprise that the Trump administration subsequently slandered Mr. Abrego Garcia by labeling him a “ranking MS-13 gang member” despite there being no evidence of such claims.
Abrego Garcia was finally freed and returned to his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, back in December and has been living in Maryland under strict court orders to remain at his home unless he is going to work, church, or seeking medical attention.
According to new reporting by CNN, he has received more good news related to his case. A federal judge, US District Judge Paula Xinis, has ruled that ICE can no longer detain him for deportation again, as the administration has been cruelly fighting tooth-and-nail to have Mr. Abrego Garcia sent to an African country since Central America is not an option.
“The court easily concludes that there is no ‘good reason to believe’ removal is likely in the reasonably foreseeable future,” she wrote in the 10-page decision. Federal officials, Xinis continued, “have done nothing to show that Abrego Garcia’s continued detention in ICE custody is consistent with due process.”
Abrego Garcia has consistently said that if he is to be deported, he will gladly go to Costa Rica, where government officials have communicated they are happy to give him citizenship. However, the Trump administration has no desire to support that ostensibly because punishment is the primary goal, not “removing dangerous criminals” from the American population.
“In her decision today, she recognized that if the government were truly trying to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the United States, they would have sent him to Costa Rica long before today,” said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a lawyer for Abrego Garcia. “Instead, they’re flailing about trying to deport him to Africa – why? It’s clear that the only reason is to punish him for having the courage to stand up for his rights.”
That must be a jagged little pill for Trump to swallow, word to Alanis Morrisette.
