1. United States
2. Ala.
3. Letter

I am appalled and horrified that the President of El Salvador has said he won’t return Kilmar Amando Abrego Garcia to the U.S. The man was deported to El Salvador based on what the government acknowledges was an “administrative error.” The US is paying $6 million per year to El Salvador to keep human beings in cages—already a nightmare scenario that should cause you deep and lasting concern. I struggle to sleep at night, knowing what I know of the prisons in El Salvador and the cavalier way the US government is handling the deportation of human beings into that pit of human rights violations. We all know several things: a) Garcia is not a terrorist. He’s the father of US citizens and a man with no criminal record. The evidence of any connection to gang membership is circumstantial and likely fabricated—but unless seen by a US judge to ascertain its validity, must be dismissed given our belief in this country that no matter one’s national origin or the color of one’s skin, we are all innocent until proven guilty. b) Bukele is behaving exactly and only as President Trump requests him to behave. He could return Garcia if he thought it would please the US president, who is paying him so handsomely. c) If this matter is allowed to stand, any American citizen too can be disappeared, provided the US government works speedily enough so that they can once again simply say “oopsie” and “no take-backsies” once the person is in an El Salvadorean gulag. That applies to you, too, even if at the moment you do not feel vulnerable to false removals. Since no court cases have been provided to these removed persons, we have no way to know if they are American citizens, criminals, whatever. This is not the US any of us grew up in, nor the US any of us want to see now. All human beings are entitled to basic human rights, including the rule of law that includes due process. I urge you to communicate your dissatisfaction with this outcome to all members of the administration. Only when the people and the people’s representatives—you!—insist upon fair treatment are any of us safe in the long run.