Due Process for One Is Due Process for All
The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Trump’s deportation doctrine, and the line between democracy and dictatorship
Pathfinders, we need to talk about due process—not as some abstract legal idea, but as the core protection that separates democracy from authoritarian rule.
Right now, that line is under attack.
And if we don’t fight to hold it, we lose more than just one case—we lose the foundation of justice in this country.
What Happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a legal U.S. resident with a valid work permit.
A federal court explicitly ordered that he not be deported.
DHS ignored that and sent him to CECOT, El Salvador’s mega-prison, infamous for its extreme conditions.
That country was on the banned list for deportation in his case due to safety concerns.
And yet, they sent him anyway.
The government now admits the deportation was a “mistake” but refuses to fix it.
This isn’t just a clerical error. It’s the state breaking its own rules—and daring the courts to stop it.
What the Courts Are Saying
Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rare and scorching opinion. Here’s what they said:
“The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process.”1
They reminded us that even if the government thinks someone is dangerous, that person still has the right to a fair legal process.
If the Executive Branch is confident in its evidence, it should have no problem proving it in court.
And perhaps most importantly:
“If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process… what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens?”
That’s the heart of it.
The courts have made it clear: deportation without due process is unconstitutional.
But on the ground, the cruelty continues—and it’s swallowing people whole.
The Disturbing Reality
Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan man, was deported by the U.S. and simply vanished.
No one—no family, no friends, no fellow detainees—knows where he is.
One day he was here. The next, gone.2
No one—friends, family, or fellow detainees—knows where he is.
And it doesn’t stop there.
And it gets even more brutal.
In a New York City immigration courtroom, a 4-year-old girl—tiny, scared, and alone—was forced to stand before a judge without a lawyer.3
She wasn’t the only one.
The room was full of children.
Children.
This isn’t hypothetical.
It’s happening.
And the courts—no matter how strongly they speak—are up against a country already numbed to the violence.
This is the cruelty MAGA has chosen.
Deliberate. Unapologetic. Escalating.
It’s not a glitch.
It’s the goal.
Cruelty isn’t the cost of their agenda—it is the agenda.
Trump’s Open Attack on the Constitution
Just days later, Trump made it clear where he stands.
In a Truth Social post on April 21st, he praised Justice Alito for wanting to overturn court protections and claimed that giving people due process would take “200 years.”
Yes—he’s literally saying the Constitution takes too long. So we shouldn’t bother.
That’s not a joke. That’s a confession.
And his most extreme followers are right there with him—calling for treason charges against Supreme Court justices who uphold the Constitution, and demanding loyalty not to law, but to Trump himself:
Frightening.
This isn’t fringe anymore. This is the base—and it’s openly anti-constitutional, fascist, and authoritarian.
If you’ve made it this far, you already know—this isn’t just about one man. It’s about what kind of country we’re becoming.
The rest of this piece dives deeper:
Trump’s plan to send American citizens to foreign prisons
The Senator who flew to El Salvador to fight back
What you can do—right now—to help defend due process for all
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