Negligence is one word to describe it. Embarrassing is another.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was alleged to have ties to the MS-13 street gang, was deported to El Salvador on March 15, despite the fact that he was barred from entering the country per the order of an immigration judge back in 2019, according to NBC.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, is understandably hesitant about releasing Abrego Garcia due to the allegations against him, remarking in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that “we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists.”
The fact that the Department of Justice (DOJ) made such an error in the first place is horrible and, frankly, embarrassing. The DOJ has, to its credit, admitted its blunder, although admitting it does not reverse anything. For a department with the word “justice” in its name, it sure does struggle to uphold the actual law and precedents set down before it.
Furthermore, Stephen Miller, the U.S. Homeland Security Advisor, refused to even admit a mistake had been made, saying, “he was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador,” adding, “This was the right person sent to the right place.” this is all despite the fact that the Supreme Court defined Abrego Garcia’s deportation as “illegal” in their own words.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation is just one of many being carried out throughout the country, a notable case being Rümeysa Öztürk from Tufts University, who was recently denied bond. The reason given for her detainment in the first place: An opinion piece in her school newspaper that the authorities apparently didn’t like.
What a crazy thought, to be detained for an opinion piece.
Now, what about the charges against Abrego Garcia, though?
They’re shaky at best. Abrego Garcia’s crimes include the ownership of a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, alongside the word of a confidential informant. The informant has put forth that Abrego Garcia was a member of the Western Clique of MS-13, which has its base in New York.
The kicker? Abrego Garcia may have never lived in New York at all, according to Paula Xinis, a federal judge.
The immigration firm Murray Osorio PLLC and the lawyers from it who are defending Abrego Garcia said in a statement, “Let us be clear: the responsibility to return Mr. Abrego Garcia lies squarely with the United States government. His deportation was not just an administrative error—it was a constitutional failure.”
They are right about that. Regardless of the validity of the accusations against Abrego Garcia, he was banned from entering El Salvador. His deportation to the country is, in the simplest of terms, illegal.
For the time being, he is currently held down at the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.
Calling the mistake an “administrative error,” as Solicitor General D. John Sauer would put it, does not wash the administration’s hands clean of any wrongdoing. Abrego Garcia should not have been illegally deported to El Salvador, and the fact that the DOJ, and by extension the president, fumbled this issue so poorly reflects badly on our country and on the rights we claim to uphold, rights that our president, and apparently even our justice system, don’t seem to care much for anymore.
The fact the DOJ came forward and admitted the mistake is more than can be said in other cases, such as those of Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil, who is scheduled to be deported due to his support of pro-Palestinian protests.
Whether it be through sheer negligence or clear targeting of certain individuals, our country and our president are showing the rest of the world that we lack the competence necessary to make administrative decisions and run an entire nation.
After all, it’s anyone’s guess when another horrendous “administrative error” will be made and who it will affect.
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
