First, a one sentence primer on immigration law. The Immigration & Nationality Act (INA), Sec. 241(b)(3) mandates withholding of removal to a country where a person’s life or freedom would be threatened based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (e.g., sexuality). This is the law.
Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia was granted withholding and then deported to guess where? El Salvador. The Supreme Court has ordered his return, “administrative error” or not. To claim that our government cannot return him is nothing more than an eight letter euphemism for nonsense. It is utterly absurd.
In the past, the U.S. has returned people under court order when it made such “errors.” Garcia’s removal to El Salvador shows that DHS/ICE totally ignored the data in its own system. Had they fingerprinted him, his case number would have popped up and ICE would have seen his status. The most frightening thing is that they knew his status and packed him off anyway. We must ask: is anyone safe, including citizens?
Prayer for the Day
Searching mindlessly, we look for visible symbols of your love,
Frustrated, O God, we want simple answers to our complex world;
Not acknowledging our complicity, we only see our own frailty.
For we are blind to the strength that comes from you, O Lord.
Move us beyond our fears, giving us the faith to seek even deeper faith,
The faith that shows us how to live in love with one another.,
In the name of the One who is our example,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The Government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U. S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.
Sonia Sotomayor, concurring in unanimous opinion for Garcia’s return.
As immigration officials become more indiscriminate about who they’re targeting — all while they’re pressured to deport people faster and to avoid immigration court proceedings — it creates a situation in which the possibility of illegally detaining and deporting a U.S. citizen rises immensely, because citizenship is not something that we can spot on people’s foreheads.
César Cuauhtémoc Garcia Hernández, Ohio State law professor
The nations have sunk into the pit they made;
In the net they hd has their own foot been caught.
The Lord has made known the judgments that were executed;
The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.
Psalm 9: 15-16