Justice Delayed

The tragic plight of Kilmar Abrego Garcia continues. I imagine how terrified and uncertain he must feel as he languishes in his prison cell in El Salvador. I wonder about the pain, fear, anger, and uncertainty his family is facing, while I try to imagine how my own wife and son would feel if I were suddenly whisked away to parts unknown. The situation is as horrifying as it is tragic.

The Trump administration is slow-walking court orders and won’t even honor a simple request from a district court — daily status updates on its progress in facilitating* Abrego Garcia’s return. It callously prolongs the anguish of both Abrego Garcia and his family, and I’m reminded once again that the cruelty is the point.

As if the government’s cruelty weren’t enough, yesterday, the court extended the ordeal by two weeks, giving the government more time to provide additional information that it should have already turned over — if it had been acting in good faith. That’s two more weeks of chaos and uncertainty for Garcia and his family. We can only hope that the court is able to establish a detailed, factual record that bolsters the chances that Abrego Garcia will be reunited with his family. Hope might seem futile, but it may be all we have right now. It’s a perilous creature, and left to linger in perpetuity, it can give way to torment.

We have the luxury of watching this all from the sidelines, where days and weeks sometimes fly by. For Kilmar Abrego Garcia, in contrast, I suspect an hour might feel like a day, a day like a week, and two weeks — perhaps an eternity.

* Because “effectuating” was a bridge too far for this Supreme Court:“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador… The intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority.”

Source: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a949_lkhn.pdf