Donald Trump makes it ever so easy to see the evidence of American decline. There he was beside Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office, attacking an ABC News reporter who properly asked about the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul. Donald Trump made it clear he much preferred a murderous Saudi tyrant to a prying American reporter. Salman, he assured us, had a great human rights record—though the CIA had tied him to the murder.
President Donald Trump’s lies about our murdered columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, overshadowed the more tangible deliverables handed to Mohammed bin Salman during the Saudi crown prince’s visit this week. On balance, Mohammed gained more from the trip than the United States, though the Trump family’s businesses stand to profit handsomely from private deals with the Saudis.
‘MBS,’ as Mohammed is called, returns home with permission to purchase 48 advanced F-35 fighter jets that many in the Pentagon, and Israel, do not trust him to have, as well as nearly 300 Abrams tanks … In exchange, the Saudis committed to invest nearly $1 trillion in the U.S., up from the $600 billion they announced in May. They offered no time horizon for this far-fetched figure, which is roughly the size of their annual economic output.
[Emphasis added.]
Trump’s eagerness to bestow American gifts in exchange for preferential treatment for his family businesses makes clear how respect for human rights fades in the face of greed and influence. These choices help explain what he and his collaborators are doing to two very different people, Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Judge James Boasberg.
Father Fred made sure Donald made it to the Wharton School. But as his multiple bankruptcies soon made evident, the younger Trump probably did not do his homework. Luckily, flush with the fortune he had wrested from the government subsidies he won to provide housing for his unfortunate low- and middle-income tenants in New York City, Father Fred poured even more money into Donald’s failures.
What the younger Trump had not learned about legitimate business he more than made up for with what he had learned about grifting and grafting. Thanks to Fred and Fred’s friend Roy Cohn, Donald learned to leave ethics at the door. And as we have seen with his bitcoin scams and new-found deals with Arabian potentates in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Donald and his family are trading influence for cash. And they are raking it in.
Now, to best trade in influence, you must hold power. So, Donald transformed his envy of tyrants into a determination to win the presidency. And he has developed a growing desire to maintain and extend his dominance as long as possible.
Significantly, Donald has learned from his fellow autocrats the best ways to hold onto power; to punish those, in the highest and lowest places, who stand in your way; to extinguish the hopes and prospects of your rivals; even to penalize those who only annoy you. And while these tyrants speak different languages, they each have learned how to dispense with those who might threaten their reign.
Putin, it turns out, likes to have his enemies thrown off of bridges or out of hotel windows, sometimes poisoning them in public places. Salman chose to dismember by chainsaw an annoyingly critical member of the foreign press. Kim Jong Un tortures his people with never-ending surveillance and besieging them with non-stop propaganda. Despite their methods, they all believe that their enemies are everywhere, that anyone can, in a heartbeat, transform from a reliable friend to a determined foe. And, of necessity, suspicion trumps proof. If you distrust the general beside you, you best eliminate him, because even if he is not an enemy today, he will be one tomorrow.
Which brings us to life in America today and Trump’s growing annoyance that, because we are still partially a republic, he is not as free as the others to dispense with those he cannot depend upon. Hampered, at least for the moment, for while the Supreme Court has done yeoman’s work to significantly steer us from democracy toward autocracy, there is still more work to be done for Trump. Yes, there are still those pesky lower court justices who read the Constitution.
Trump, with his exaggerated mandate and his newfound appreciation that the Supreme Court is on his side, is determined to go after all those—and I mean all—who he is convinced are disloyal, even those who once themselves held power. No one is safe anymore, even those like former FBI Director James Comey of the FBI and former CIA Director John Brennan, those working for the best law firms and universities, especially those who have tried to hold him to account.
Which brings us to the once-almost-unimaginable convergence of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Judge James Boasberg, an unlikely duo who find themselves equally vulnerable in Truskmumpia. Because each, in such very different ways, have thwarted Donald Trump’s unabated drive for absolute power.
Let’s start with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Everywhere you look, you see Donald Trump’s monomaniacal obsession with immigrants. In Los Angeles; Portland; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and, most recently, Charlotte, N.C., there are masked, out-of-control ICE officers chasing brown people through the streets, smashing car and truck windows, pepper-spraying kids, tackling men and women. So very pissed off and vindictive. Invincible. Sure that those they are about to assault cannot possibly be innocent—or citizens. Because the president’s and their priorities are clear:
Once, it might have mattered that Abrego Garcia was compelled to leave El Salvador to save his life. That Abrego Garcia is far more a victim of crime than a criminal. Thankfully, Judge Xinis, who has ended up dealing with the Abrego Garcia, case adds some critical perspective:
Abrego Garcia was born and raised in Los Nogales, El Salvador …His family owned a small and successful pupuseria …. For years, they were subject to extortion and threats of death by one of El Salvador’s most notorious gangs … The gang used Abrego Garcia as a pawn in its extortion, demanding that his mother give Abrego Garcia over to the gang or he and others in their family would be killed … Attempting to escape the gang’s reach, the family moved three times without success … To protect Abrego Garcia, they ultimately sent him to the United States to live with his older brother, a U.S. citizen, in Maryland … Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland for many years without lawful status …
[Emphasis added.]
Everyone here without papers is now an enemy. And somehow Abrego Garcia has become enemy number one in Donald Trump’s war against migrants. And to make it clear, Trump has made sure to declare this a war:
In Donald Trump’s universe, this Venezuelan gang, Tren De Aragua, has crossed our borders in such great numbers as to constitute an alien army:
Based upon a review of TdA’s activities, and in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, on February 20, 2025, acting pursuant to the authority in 8 U.S.C. 1189, the Secretary of State designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
As President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is my solemn duty to protect the American people from the devastating effects of this invasion. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Alien Enemies Act, 50 U.S.C. 21 et seq., hereby proclaim and direct as follows:
Section 1. I find and declare that TdA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States. TdA is undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States …
[Emphasis added.]
And so the president and his administration will do whatever it takes to win this war and deport as many immigrants as possible:
Unfortunately, Abrego Garcia got caught up in Donald Trump’s war against Tren De Aragua. And in Abrego Garcia’s case, while they ultimately accused him of membership in El Salvador’s MS-13 not Tren De Aragua, a gang is a gang, and war is war. Here is how his attorneys put it:
On March 28, 2019 he went to Home Depot in Hyattsville hoping he’d be picked to work on a construction job. There he met three others looking for work … At 2:27, a detective from the Hyattsville City Police approached and spoke to one of the group. Soon thereafter, officers from Prince George County Police Department (‘PGPD’) arrived and handcuffed them all. At no point did police explain why they were arresting Plaintiff Abrego Garcia, nor was Plaintiff Abrego Garcia ever charged with any crime. This was Plaintiff Abrego Garcia’s first and only time in state custody.
Abrego Garcia was asked if he was a gang member; when he told police he was not, they said that they did not believe him and repeatedly demanded that he provide information about other gang members. The police told Plaintiff Abrego Garcia that he would be released if he cooperated, but he repeatedly explained that he did not have any information to give because he did not know anything …
[Emphasis added.]
Back to Judge Xinis:
The Prince George’s County Police Department questioned him about gang affiliation, but nothing came of it … He was then turned over to ICE custody…. On March 29, 2019, DHS initiated removal proceedings against Abrego Garcia … On April 24, 2019, Abrego Garcia appeared before an immigration judge (‘IJ’) where he conceded his deportability and applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture …
Pending resolution of the requested relief, DHS argued for Abrego Garcia to be detained in ICE custody … DHS relied principally on a singular unsubstantiated allegation that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13. The IJ ultimately detained Abrego Garcia pending the outcome of his requested relief from deportation, a decision affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals … October 10, 2019, following a full evidentiary hearing, the IJ granted Abrego Garcia withholding of removal to El Salvador pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A). As a matter of law, withholding of removal prohibits DHS from returning an alien to the specific country in which he faces clear probability of persecution. In Abrego Garcia’s case, the IJ concluded that he was entitled to such protection because the Barrio 18 gang had been ‘targeting him and threatening him with death because of his family’s pupusa business’. … DHS never appealed the grant of withholding of removal, and so the decision became final on November 9 … Accordingly, as Defendants have repeatedly admitted, they were legally prohibited from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador …
For the next six years, Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland with his wife and their three children … He complied fully with all directives from ICE, including annual check-ins, and has never been charged with or convicted of any crime …. On March 12, 2025, while driving home from work with his young son in the car, Abrego Garcia was stopped by ICE agents … The officers had no warrant for his arrest and no lawful basis to take him into custody; they told him only that his ‘status had changed.’ … He was first transported to an ICE facility in Baltimore, Maryland … Next, ICE agents shuttled him to detention facilities in Louisiana and La Villa, Texas… He was allowed a handful of calls to his wife. He said that he was told he would see a judge soon … But that never happened. Three days later, on March 15, 2025, without any notice, legal process, or hearing, ICE forcibly transported Abrego Garcia to the Terrorism Confinement Center (‘CECOT’) in El Salvador, a notorious supermax prison known for widespread human rights violations.
[Emphasis added.]
Yes, fearing for his life, Abrego Garcia crossed into America illegally. He has been living a decent life, providing for his family while applying for asylum and checking in with ICE. But because Donald Trump has declared war, Abrego Garcia was picked up by ICE, sent from one facility to another, then illegally flown to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, the one place a judge had ruled he should not ever be sent to.
Here is Judge Xinis:
The ‘evidence’ against Abrego Garcia consisted of nothing more than his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13’s ‘Western’ clique in New York—a place he has never lived.
[Emphasis added.]
Someone had made a mistake with Abrego Garcia. In normal times, they would have let him go to concentrate on real criminals. But this was war, and rather than admit their error, the government doubled down.
Remarkably, Department of Justice attorney Erez Reuveni’s whistleblower account confirms that the government was willing to break the law rather than admit its error. Reuveni explains what happened when he was called upon to prosecute Abrego Garcia before Judge Xinis:
Between March 14, 2025, and April 5, 2025, Mr. Reuveni, almost immediately … became aware of the plans of DOJ leadership to resist court orders that would impede potentially illegal efforts to deport noncitizens, and further became aware of the details to execute those plans. On April 4, 2025, after raising concerns internally to his chain of command for nearly three weeks regarding the government’s compliance with court orders and candor to the courts, Mr. Reuveni appeared before Judge Paula Xinis, United States District Court Judge in the District of Maryland, on behalf of the government in the case of Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. During that appearance, Mr. Reuveni candidly and truthfully informed the court, based on the evidentiary record, that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s removal from the United States was a mistake. Later that evening, Mr. Reuveni refused directions from his superiors to file a brief misrepresenting those facts to the court. As a result. Mr. Reuveni was put on administrative leave on April 5, 2025, and his employment was ultimately terminated on April 11, 2025.
[Emphasis added.]
Yes, Reuveni was fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi. But it was far worse for Abrego Garcia. NBC News provided these photos of Abrego at CECOT:
In their March 24, 2025, motion for injunctive relief and declaratory judgment, here is how Abrego Garcia’s legal team described the hellish conditions he had to endure:
Each of the 256 cells is intended to hold approximately 80 inmates but often holds nearly double. The cramped cells are equipped with tiered metal bunks without mattresses, two basins for washing, and two open toilets. There are no windows, fans, or air conditioning, despite the region’s warm and humid climate. Inmates in CECOT are confined to their cells for 23.5 hours daily and cannot go outdoors. They are denied access to reading materials, including even letters from friends or family. Inmates are prohibited from receiving visits from family and friends. Meals are provided through the bars, and the facility enforces strict regulations to maintain order. In May 2023, Cristosal, a leading human rights organization in El Salvador, released a comprehensive report detailing severe human rights abuses within the country’s prison system, especially CECOT. The investigation documented the deaths of 153 inmates between March 27, 2022, and March 27, 2023, attributing many to torture, beatings, mechanical masphyxiation (strangulation), and lack of medical attention … Survivors reported being forced to pick food off the floor with their mouths, subjected to electric shocks, and exposed to untreated skin fungus epidemics.
Erez Reuveni reveals the ongoing role the Department of Justice played in the entire endeavor:
On Friday March 14, 2025, Mr. Reuveni received notice of his promotion to Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. That same day, following news reports that the President intended to sign a presidential proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), Mr. Reuveni was summoned to a meeting … At the meeting [Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Emil Bove] indicated to those in attendance that the AEA proclamation would soon be signed and that one or more planes containing individuals subject to the AEA would be taking off over the weekend … and stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what.
Bove then made a remark concerning the possibility that a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated. Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such court order … Mr. Reuveni and others were quickly ushered out of the room. Notwithstanding Bove’s directive, Mr. Reuveni left the meeting understanding that DOJ would tell DHS to follow all court orders. Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove’s statement because, to Mr. Reuveni’s knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership – in any Administration – had ever suggested the Department of Justice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with a ‘fuck you.’
[Emphasis added.]
Bove’s advice foreshadowed a battle that continues to this day.
On Saturday, the administration published an executive order invoking the law, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, to target Venezuelan gang members in the United States. But shortly after the announcement, James E. Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., said he would issue a temporary order blocking the government from deporting any immigrants under the law … In a hastily scheduled hearing, he said he did not believe the law offered grounds for the president’s action, and he ordered any flights that had departed with Venezuelan immigrants under the executive order to return to the United States ‘however that’s accomplished — whether turning around the plane or not. This is something you need to make sure is complied with immediately,’ he directed the government.
This was the very plane that Abrego Garcia was forced onto. Boasberg demanded that the plane return to U.S. territory so that Abrego Garcia and all the other prisoners had the opportunity to prove their innocence. Quickly, President Trump exploded with anger—and character assassination:
Following the president’s lead, the attorney general of the United States also attacked Judge Boasberg, even though he was trying to guarantee the detainees the chance to exercise their constitutionally protected due process rights:
As for Abrego Garcia, the more he, his family, and lawyers fought back, the more the government lied about him, claiming he was the enemy we had to fight. And because his wife had once filed a protective order against him—an order she continually explained was not at all representative of their loving relationship—the government insisted his history as a wife-beater revealed his true nature.
The war against Abrego Garcia has never stopped. DHS and DOJ personnel have waged an unrelenting attack on his integrity. And despite Judge Xinis’ order to return him for a proper hearing, a decision ratified by the Supreme Court, the DHS boasted that they would never bring him back from El Salvador:
Nevertheless, the pressure to return Abrego Garcia to the States increased by the day. But still Bondi’s DOJ redoubled its efforts to prove that Abrego Garcia was indeed a dangerous criminal. Rummaging through his past, they discovered an old traffic stop in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia had been driving other migrants to work. This they turned into a new reason to prosecute.
Ignoring the notion that one is innocent until proven guilty, the Department of Justice convicted him in public:
PolitiFact reminds us that the president quickly weighed in:
In Aug. 25 remarks during an executive order signing, President Donald Trump said of Abrego Garcia, ‘He beat the hell out of his wife, his wife is afraid to even talk about him. She’s been mauled by this animal. And you know, through a system of liberal courts, you know, he’s doing things. But now we have that under control.’
[Emphasis added.]
Kristi Noem did her part:
Still, time and again, the government’s contentions about Abrego Garcia have been contradicted by independent judges. As PolitiFact explained:
Trump has falsely said Abrego Garcia has the figures ‘MS-13’ tattooed on his knuckles. ‘There is no evidence before the Court that Abrego: has markings or tattoos showing gang affiliation; has working relationships with known MS-13 members; ever told any of the witnesses that he is a MS-13 member; or has ever been affiliated with any sort of gang activity,’ Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw said in the July decision ordering Abrego Garcia’s release.
And while Kristi Noem claimed that Abrego Garcia was involved in human trafficking, that is just not true. Here is what the indictment actually says:
More from PoltiFact:
A grand jury indictment charged Abrego Garcia with one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally, and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented people. The May 21 indictment was unsealed June 6.
Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from a 2022 traffic stop. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes reiterated that Abrego Garcia is charged with human smuggling, not human trafficking. Trafficking is a crime against people, regardless of their immigration status or crossing of a border, while smuggling is a crime against a country’s immigration laws.
[Emphasis added.]
Judge Holmes took issue with several of the claims the government makes:
The government maintains a detention hearing is warranted in this case: (i) because the offenses of which Abrego is charged involve a minor victim … (ii) … because there is a serious risk that Abrego will flee; and (iii) … because there is a serious risk that Abrego will obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice, or threaten, injury, or intimidate, or attempt to threaten, injure or intimidate a prospective witness. (Docket No. 14 at 1.) The government also contends that consideration of the statutory factors found in § 3142(g) requires Abrego’s detention pending trial. (Docket Nos. 8, 14.) For the reasons detailed below, the Court finds the government failed to carry its burden to demonstrate a statutory basis for a detention hearing, which compels Abrego’s release. Nevertheless, even if the government were entitled to a detention hearing, consideration of the factors detailed in § 3142(g) compels release of Abrego on conditions …
It is very clear that the government was misstating the facts of the case and stretching the truth to imply that Abrego Garcia was involved in human trafficking and the trafficking of minors:
Judge Holmes offers a very different picture of Abrego Garcia than the government:
Prior to Abrego’s removal to El Salvador in March of 2025, he was employed as a sheet metal apprentice and is a member of the Sheet, Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (‘SMART’) union. SMART is willing to continue Abrego’s apprenticeship and assist him with finding employment. CASA, which is an advocacy and resources membership organization … is available to provide employment, healthcare, and other social support services to Abrego. Abrego has no demonstrated history of physical, substance abuse, or mental health issues. Further, CASA has pledged to help with reestablishment of primary health care and mental health services for Abrego, if necessary.
The government alleges that Abrego is a long-time, well-known member of MS-13, which the Court would expect to be reflected in a criminal history, perhaps even of the kind of violent crimes and other criminal activity the government describes as typically associated with MS-13 gang membership. But Abrego has no reported criminal history of any kind. And his reputed gang membership is contradicted by the government’s own evidence as discussed above …
The Court does not find that these circumstances, when considered together, compel a determination that Abrego poses a risk of danger to the community or has the proclivity and incentive to flee rather than face prosecution of this case. Further, the Court is persuaded that there are conditions of release that will sufficiently regulate his conduct and that his strong family and community support will be motivation to successfully remain on pretrial release. For these reasons, this factor overall also weighs in favor of release.
[Emphasis added.]
Given Judge Holmes’ judgment, you can see why the government understands it could very easily lose this case. It is why they have increasingly pressured Abrego Garcia to self-deport, threatening to send him to one dreadful nation after another, like South Sudan and Uganda, African nations known to dispense with human rights. Now, it is important to understand that what has happened to Abrego Garcia, especially his abuse at CECOT, has taken an enormous toll on his resilience. The government had made clear again and again that they can and will do anything they want to him. Given this reality, no wonder he seems willing to accept deportation to Costa Rica. There, at least, he can speak his native language and live without torture.
Not surprisingly, Costa Rica seems too lenient a fate for Abrego Garcia. Clearly, the Trump administration is not finished torturing him. But, could it be, much like the Department of Justice’s remarkably incompetent handling of the James Comey indictment, that once more the Trump administration has outsmarted itself? Is it possible the attempted deportation of Abrego Garcia will end in embarrassment and not victory on the battlefield.
Why? As Adam Klasfeld has just reported for All Rise News:
The Trump administration’s fourth effort to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a faraway African nation hit a basic stumbling block on Thursday. During an evidentiary hearing, a federal judge could not confirm that the government obtained a final order of removal.
‘If your honor finds there’s no removal order, then there’s no basis for immigration detention whatsoever,’ Abrego’s attorney Andrew Rossman said during a hearing on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis grilled senior Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign on the matter. Ensign cited a document in the record, but Xinis told him that the file had no indication that it ordered Abrego’s removal. ‘Not in so many words, your honor,’ Ensign said. ‘Not at all,’ Xinis shot back.
Ensign said that an immigration judge ‘meant’ to order Abrego’s removal. Whatever the immigration judge meant, Xinis said: ‘This doesn’t look anything like [a removal order]. It’s not even close.’ The Supreme Court precedent of Zadvydas v. Davis bars indefinite immigration detention, generally imposing a 90-day limit after a final order of removal, subject to certain exceptions. It’s a key precedent Abrego’s lawyers argue for his release … If she finds there is no final deportation order, Xinis said she believes: ‘We’re done.’
[Emphasis added.]
For Abrego Garcia and for all of us, that would be wonderful. As for Judge Boasberg, he is about to be on the firing line once more. As The Washington Post reports:
Judge restarts contempt probe over deportation flights to El Salvador. A federal appeals court gave Judge James E. Boasberg the green light to move ahead with the proceedings, which were paused in April.
At a hearing Wednesday, Boasberg said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit made clear in a series of opinions issued last week that his contempt inquiry could proceed. The appeals court had previously halted the proceedings in April. ‘The bottom line is the court of appeals has permitted me to go forward with my inquiry,’ Boasberg said. ‘My inquiry is not to determine whether to hold the government in contempt, but rather to find whether there is sufficient information to make a contempt referral.’
Boasberg launched the criminal contempt inquiry in April, a month after issuing the temporary restraining order. That order barred authorities from transporting a group of Venezuelan migrants to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador under a wartime statute, the Alien Enemies Act, to give the migrants a chance to contest their removals in court.
Two flights with migrants were in the air when Boasberg first ruled orally from the bench on March 15, and they were not recalled. Two more flights departed the next day, Boasberg said, hours after he had issued the temporary restraining order in writing.
So this is a story about tyranny, and about how those in power end up having to rely on deception and violence to maintain and extend that power, to protect that privilege. Both a hapless defendant and a well-respected judge in very different ways have challenged the lawlessness of the Trump regime. Abrego Garcia, swept up in Trump’s war, is still in jail, and the government continues to threaten to send him to Liberia. And quite clearly, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and Kristi Noem still regard Judge Boasberg as just another enemy. Who knows what they have in store for him?
