During his first term, Donald Trump’s administration had a chance to challenge Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s protection from deportation, but didn’t take it, according to court documents reviewed by TIME. In October 2019, an immigration judge decided Abrego Garcia shouldn’t be removed because of violent gang threats he faced if he returned to El Salvador. Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement had 30 days to appeal that ruling. No appeal was filed, according to the court documents.
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NewsTranscript
00:00It's good to be home. Now we need to end the illegal abduction of Kilmar Arbego
00:08Garcia and bring him home too. We're joined by his wife Jennifer, by his mother
00:20Cecilia, by his brother Cesar, and thank all of the rest of you who are joining
00:27us in solidarity with the Constitution and Kilmar. Look, I'm a little sleep deprived and
00:37I want to be as clear as possible about what this is about and what it's not about. So
00:44I'm going to read the remarks that I wrote on the plane ride home. As the federal courts
00:52have said, we need to bring Mr. Arbego Garcia home to protect his constitutional
00:59rights to due process. And it's also important that people understand this
01:07case is not just about one man. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of
01:13everybody who resides in the United States of America. If you deny the constitutional
01:22rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in
01:30America. The Fourth Circuit put it very clearly in its strong opinion yesterday, and I quote,
01:39it is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case,
01:45it is not hard at all. The government, in this case, the Trump administration,
01:51is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the
01:59semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in
02:07essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should
02:15be shocking not only to judges but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from
02:22the courthouses still hold dear. They summed up the issue at stake perfectly. And that's why the Supreme
02:32Court, in a 9-0 decision, ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of
02:39Mr. Abrego Garcia. Now, the Trump administration wants to flat out lie about what this case is about. They
02:50want to change the subject. They want to make it about something else. And they are flouting the orders from the
02:58federal district court, the fourth circuit court, and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return.