This is what we asked for all along

A win for due process and the rule of law in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

According to the federal government, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in American custody this week, handed over by El Salvadoran to come face charges of illegal trafficking of human beings, drugs, and guns over the course of nine years for the MS-13 gang.

The Trump Administration and it’s mouthpieces seem to want to spin these charges as a “gotcha” at Democrats and others who have been advocating for months for the return of Abrego Garcia, and others who have been illegally detained in the CECOT prison in El Salvador. These charges, they say, prove that his rendition was justified, and that those who protested it are fools and supporters of human trafficking and terrorism.

This is ridiculous, of course. The charges are cover for the Administration, as it very clearly lost the public debate here and folded to pressure from the American public. The real winner here is due process, the rule of law, and American Constitutional democracy. Maybe Abrego Garcia is a criminal, a dangerous trafficker and gang member. Maybe he isn’t. I don’t know. But, crucially, neither does anyone else at this point, including Donald Trump and his Administration. Abrego Garcia getting a court date to face these charges is the whole point, is exactly what we have all been asking for for months now. Maybe he is a gang member; now we’ll find out for sure, and justice can be served one way or another.

Due process is that process by which we all get our day in court, to face our accusers and any charges brought against us. It is the fact finding process by which we determine whether or not someone is or is not guilty of a crime. Everyone gets due process: petty thieves, jaywalkers, white collar criminals, murderers, rapist, serial killers, terrorists, and even political leaders credibly accused of rape and falsifying business records. What we have wanted all along is for a court to hear the cases of the hundreds and hundreds of people this Administration has seized and detained, to determine if they are actually here illegally or not. None of this is a defense of their character or their actions. We want due process and the rule of law, and now, in this case, we are getting it.

Precedent is now set; the Administration should bring home all of the people it sent to El Salvador, and elsewhere, and give them their day in court. Our nation can handle that. Our Constitution demands it.