I have made many mistakes in my life, some large and egregious others minor and inconsequential. Large or small, the best thing that I could do after making a mistake was to admit it and then do my best to correct it. Fortunately, most of my failings were such that I could immediately apply a remedy. A few, that I’d rather not detail, were of such a nature that I could not repair the wrong. Such is not the case with the U.S. government and Abrego Garcia.
Scooped up in an aggressive ICE raid, Abrego Garcia was improperly deported to El Salvador. The Trump administration admits the mistake, citing an administrative error, yet they refuse to take the steps necessary to rectify their mistake, even in the face of a Supreme Court requirement. They have even used the fig-leaf of getting the president of El Salvador to publicly refuse as their most current reason. Such a callus refusal to observe due process and right and obvious wrong ought to sound the klaxon in the hearts, minds, and souls of Americans.
Garcia arrived on our shores seeking refuge from the criminal gang life in his home country and was granted protected status by our government. For that same government to refuse to correct an administrative error, leaving him incarcerated on foreign soil strikes at the foundational structures of freedom, due process, checks and balances. What is to keep the executive branch from denying me due process should they make a mistake? I understand the reluctance to correct an error. I do not enjoy admitting that I’m wrong; however, adult behavior requires it when I make a mistake. For the current administration to simply ignore another branch of government is unacceptable, no matter which party one belongs to.
All of us should clamor for the immediate return of Mr. Garcia. If we fail to register our displeasure at this, we fail to help the most helpless in their time of extreme need. We all have much at stake in this issue. How can we stand for freedom if we continue to allow our government to sweep up individuals and deport them to incarceration based on flimsy evidence and no chance to plead their case or have appropriate representation? Much of the evidence used is grounded on tattoos and in the case of Mr. Garcia an assumed connection based on an incorrect identification of his location. Despite all of this and a Supreme Court requirement to facilitate his return, the administration refuses to return him and afford him the due process required by our legal system.
Due process is a critical component of our legal system. It is the mechanism which protects individuals from incorrect prosecution and incarceration. Though it takes time and effort, it keeps us from wrongly punishing individuals, citizens and aliens alike. The current administration seems bent on ignoring due process. Those of us who claim the name of Christ must cry out. Scripture reminds us of how the Lord looks at this issue:
33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34 English Standard Version
Our brutal treatment of these individuals does not reflect our commitment to law, order, justice, and protection of the weak. We need to reaffirm our commitment to these foundational concepts. These are the things that make a nation great; not the heartless exercise of power and might. We need to revisit the Sonnet by Emma Lazarus found on the Statue of Liberty:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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