Published in the Towns County Herald on May 7, 2025
Dear Editor,
I read with some interest Andrew
Clyde’s latest column (Towns County Herald, April 4, 2025, p. 4) purporting to
speak for Democrats regarding the extrajudicial deportation of Abrego Garcia
and defending the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with court orders that
he return Garcia to the United States for an appropriate deportation hearing. Perhaps it is too much to expect Clyde to
understand the difference between law and lawlessness.
Having been trained in the law, I
understand allegation is not proof, a distinction Clyde and the President have trouble
comprehending. I am perfectly willing to
entertain Clyde’s allegation of gang membership, but I am not willing to
surrender the fundamental right of individuals to be confronted with their
accusers and given an opportunity to answer the allegations. This is a human right contemplated in the
Declaration’s phrase “inalienable rights,” enshrined in the Constitution’s 5th
and 6th amendments and embellished in the 14th amendment. It is not a right reserved to citizens only.
If the allegations after a proper
hearing bear out, then yes without reservation I say deport the man. But we as a people who believe in the rule of
law must at least make some effort to follow the law, not expedite convictions
on a basis of mere allegations.
As to whether the movement to
return Garcia to the United States is a Democratic initiative, I think that
deserves examination. With the exception
of the district court judge who directed the administration to facilitate
Garcia’s return, the majority of judges either protecting Garcia from
deportation or confirming the district court’s order were either appointed
under Trump or by his Republican predecessors.
It is a Trump administration official who stated Garcia’s deportation
was an error in violation of court orders.
Also, Pam Bondi can shift blame to El Salvador’s president all she wants
but her boss in the Oval Office Tuesday night said he could bring Garcia
back. But he won’t.
And there is the problem. Trump is happy to trample on the courts and
the law if it suits his whims. No
Democrat I know of is saying Garcia is a nice guy. No Democrat I know of is defending him as a
person. But unlike Trump and apparently
his sycophants like Clyde in Congress, we as Americans – real Americans who
love country and Constitution – expect our leaders to act within the law. It is the law, not Democrats, that demands
his return. And it is the law that will
deport him based on evidence, not unproven allegations.
Clyde should quit casting
aspersions and start doing his job by holding Trump accountable under the law for
his illegal and cruel deportations policies.
David W. Plunkett
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