Kilmar Abrego Garcia came to this country from El Salvador at age 18 in 2011, when he and his family were threatened with death by gangs. He settled in Maryland and became a construction worker, eventually marrying a U.S. citizen. He and Jennifer had a child together.

In 2019, he was stopped and put into ICE detention but later released. The detective who said he was a gang member was later dropped from the force for selling evidence to a sex worker. And there is no other evidence against this man. A judge ruled that Kilmar could not be deported and he was entitled to asylum.

Now, the Trump administration has sent him to the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador. Torture is rampant and most prisoners are never released.

The administration has admitted that Kilmar’s deportation was a mistake. But it has made clear it will do nothing about it. That there is no evidence does not matter. That he may die in this hell hole does not matter. That he had legal protection here does not matter. That the Supreme Court has ordered his release does not matter.

Kilmar’s is a test case for this administration to see how much power it has. Under this kind of law none of us is truly safe. If the president wants us, a family member or a friend, to rot in a foreign jail he can do it. This is just the beginning.

Steve Bien
Jay