Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen say they are willing to go to El Salvador to seek the release of a man who the Justice Department says it mistakenly deported there — a plan that has gained steam after the country’s president said during a visit to the White House that he would not send the man back to the U.S.
He may very well be dead. Regardless, I think we have to try; somebody’s father was literally sent to hell on earth without even being charged for a crime or seeing a judge. Trump has defiled this man’s “unalienable right” to due process. The fifth amendment to the constitution of the United States also specifies that this right belongs to each person and not citizen for this exact reason.
This is probably the biggest constitutional crisis since the US Civil War. The foundations of the entire legal world sit upon established precedent, and Trump getting away with this would basically mean the Constitution and our laws are entirely up to the executive and therefore not worth the paper they’re printed on.
We have no choice but to make this a complete PR disaster for Trump; Is he strong, or is he weak? If he is so strong, then why is a dictator of a tiny country able to tell him no? If Trump even had a shred of guilt or decency (he has neither) he would remind Bukele that a single aircraft carrier is all it would take to level everything he has.
(Note: I am not saying we should launch a military invasion of El Salvador. I am merely pointing out how laughable it is that Trump says he can’t do anything. He is, as he has always been, a weak and pathetic man whose only extraordinary talent is lying without remorse.)