1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

In former times, our country worked because most of us felt that the freedoms granted to us by our Constitution were real and that the principles espoused in the Declaration Of Independence drove us forward to see and correct our shortcomings. We believed that the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” were true, not in some abstract sense, but as a statement about the history of our own country. However imperfect our society was and had been, there was also an impulse to correct our failings, to make the United States a better, stronger, freer country. The kidnapping of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by agents of our own government, his removal in defiance of a court order to the CECOT prison in El Salvador without even the pretext of due process — supposedly because of an “administrative error,” and now the Trump administration’s apparent refusal to respect the orders of both Judge Xinis and now the US Supreme Court to return him promptly home brings into sharp relief both the cruelty and the lawlessness of President Trump and the people surrounding him. It is becoming increasingly clear that we have reached a tipping point. President Trump’s increasingly brazen displays of contempt for our Constitution, the rule of law, and basic human decency are making it clear that he has no intention of honoring his oath of office. President Trump does not understand, and he certainly does not respect, the principles on which this country was founded. In the face of the Trump administration’s bald-faced and public moves to dismantle the foundation of our democracy and the institutions that support it, Congress appears — for the most part — to be collaborating at worst or impotent at best. Members of Congress have also sworn an oath to “support the Constitution, and defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic.” I hope that you are reflecting on what those words mean and planning the actions that you will take to uphold your oath. Anything less is dereliction of your duty in the face of what may be the greatest threat that our country has even seen. I would like to know what are you going to do? It is time to act.