From John Adams to Kilmar Abrego Garcia: America’s Enduring Fight for Due Process

This is not about any one person, but a fundamental right

Image created by the author using AI (a defendant receiving due process in front of a judge)

If you listen to conservative media about the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, you would think it’s all about Garcia — the alleged MS-13 gang member who allegedly beats up his wife and mooches off the U.S. taxpayers. Or that Garcia, who was sent to an El Salvadoran prison because of an administrative error (by the Trump administration’s admission), already received due process despite being shipped off without a hearing. But perhaps my favorite is that Democrats are fighting for Garcia because they have too much “empathy” for a “hardened criminal.”

All of these arguments fall flat for one simple reason: the collective outrage is not about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Had he simply received a hearing before being deported to El Salvador, you probably wouldn’t know his name. He would be one of many cases before an immigration judge that went through the U.S. justice system.

Except that Garcia did not receive this fundamental right to due process. The outrage directed at this case is about far more than Garcia. It’s about him not receiving what he was due — a standard process where he could defend allegations against him in court and then have his case fairly adjudicated. And…