ICE agents make an arrest. This could be you.
The News
I try to write about both good news and bad, but it’s a lot harder to find good news these days. Maybe it’s the feed I get on YouTube? Or from the Washington Post? The New York Times? Fox News?
Okay. The last one is an oxymoron, but it is still news, even if it is not very good.
So, here’s the good news.
The Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS) has rendered a unanimous decision in favor of due process!
If you’re unfamiliar with due process, don’t worry. Some people can’t even spell the word restaurant. Some people can’t locate the United States on a map of the world. Some people can’t tell you who authored the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
They don’t know the answers, and they admit it on national television. See the Jimmy Kimmel Show. I guess that it is better to be on national television than not be on it, even if you have to prove you are an idiot to get the exposure.
Due Process
In a nutshell, due process simply means that, if the government accuses you of doing something illegal, before the government can enforce a punishment for the alleged conduct, you get to have some kind of hearing before an impartial tribunal. You know, you get to tell your side of the story to a judge. The government gets to tell its side of the story too. The judge gets to decide which side is closer to the truth. In some cases, a jury, under the supervision of a judge, gets to decide which side is closer to the truth.
It gets even better. You don’t have to tell the judge anything. Why? Because in America, you get an ancillary right as well: the law presumes you to be innocent. If the government cannot present any evidence to the judge that you are guilty of anything, the judge will rule in your favor even if you keep your mouth shut.
The Case
In Kristi Noem vs. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, Case №24ª949, SCOTUS ruled that the US government (that’s Ms. Noem here (she is in charge of ICE, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)) must “facilitate” the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia from El Salvador to the United States.
Ms. Noem’s ICE agents had arrested Mr. Abrego Garcia for being in the United States unlawfully. They flew him to a prison in El Salvador. The ICE agents did this despite knowing that a federal court had already issued a ruling that Mr. Abrego Garcia was lawfully residing in the United States and was at serious risk of being tortured or killed if he were returned to El Salvador.
Mr. Abrego Garcia’s spouse got a lawyer to challenge the deportation of her husband in federal court. When the federal judge asked Ms. Noem’s lawyer about the evidence to support the deportation, Ms. Noem’s lawyer admitted that the government had none and that the deportation was a “mistake.” He had no explanation as to why the deportation even happened.
Well, you can imagine, the judge was not impressed with the government’s reason for deporting Mr. Abrego Garcia. She gave Ms. Noem some extra time to see if she could come up with some evidence, but Ms. Noem did not have any. She offered to shoot a puppy, but the judge did not think much of that idea either.
Consequently, Judge Paula Xinis ordered Ms. Noem and the US government to get Mr. Abrego back from the prison in El Salvador because Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife wanted him back. That’s real love for you.
Ms. Noem had other ideas. She said, “Oops! It’s too late for that. Judge, you no longer have any jurisdiction to order me to do that because Mr. Abrego Garcia is in El Salvador, and your jurisdiction does not extend to El Salvador. That country has its own judges, and the government of El Salvador does not listen to the US government. Tough luck. And, I think I will shoot another puppy to boot.”
Judge Xinis was skeptical about that argument. I mean, if the US government can get El Salvador to accept prisoners deported from the US, perhaps it has some pull to get one of them sent back…if it asked nicely. Judge Xinis ordered Ms. Noem to try.
SCOTUS’ Decision
Instead of trying, Ms. Noem got Pam Biondi, the Attorney General of the United States to petition SCOTUS to tell Judge Xinis to piss off and let Ms. Noem deport anyone she damn well pleases. President Trump added that there were some US citizens he would like to deport to El Salvador, and he would gladly encourage Ms. Noem to get on with that idea as well.
Alas, SCOTUS ruled that such activity by the US government would not be constitutional. If the government wants to round up people suspected of being in the United States unlawfully and deport them, the people rounded up get to have a hearing before they get put on a plane to be flown to another country. If the government cannot show lawful cause to support the deportation, the government has to not deport them. If the government deports somebody that it should not deport, it must “facilitate” that person’s return to the US.
How about that?
Kinda gives you a warm glow to know that SCOTUS thinks due process is important enough to tell Donald Trump and Kristi Noem that, when you make a mistake, you should try to fix it.
Will Donald and Kristi take SCOTUS’s order seriously?
Not really. Instead, they’re seriously thinking about how they can convince you and me that sending an innocent man to an El Salvadoran prison was not a mistake. It was great. He should stay there.
If you’re in any doubt about their earnestness, consider the DOJ lawyer who admitted to Judge Xinis that the deportation was a mistake. He has been fired.