The story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia reveals a deeper crisis: When court rulings are treated like suggestions, and justice stops at the White House gates.
This is the situation unfolding right now for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, despite a court order that explicitly prohibited his removal. The Supreme Court stepped in, telling the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return. The administration’s response? A carefully worded shrug.
Government defiance of court orders erodes the rule of law
When judges issue orders and government officials ignore them, it shakes the whole idea of rule of law. If everyday people can’t skip out on court orders without consequences, why can the government?
As Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, pointed out in a recent court filing (per The Atlantic): “They claim that the court is powerless to order any relief. If that’s true, the immigration laws are meaningless — all of them — because the government can deport whoever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, and no court can do anything about it once it’s done.”
And that’s exactly the danger.
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