The story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia illustrates how, for some, the American dream has turned into a nightmare.
Abrego Garcia, originally from El Salvador, fled to the the United States in 2012 as a teenager. He worked in construction, met an American woman, had a child, and made a new life for himself in Maryland. He has no criminal convictions.
All in all, a classic immigrant tale.
In Trump’s United States, however, that’s not enough.
On the thinnest of evidence linking him to the notorious MS13 gang, Abrego Garcia was arrested in the parking lot of a Home Depot Store, whilst with his autistic and partially deaf son.
He was shackled and deported to the notorious CECOT prison back in El Salvador.
Officials have admitted his expulsion from the States was an administrative error and the US Supreme Court has said the government should facilitate his return.
Trump’s administration has continued to prevaricate, quibbling over the court’s decision, leaving Abrego-Garcia in limbo and his family in Maryland in a state of fear about his fate.
Following a visit from Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, he has been moved to different jail, but there’s no suggestion he’ll be allowed to return home anytime soon.
Adrian Goldberg hears from David Greewald from the Vanguard News Group, which chronicles systemic injustices in the US judicial system.
Greenwald says that case demonstrates that American democracy “is on life support.”
The Byline Podcast is produced in Birmingham UK, by Adrian Goldberg.
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