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Throughout the chaos of the past three months, I have done my best to remain well informed and have tried to avoid overreacting. However, what is happening to our immigrant community, including many who are in this country legally, has alarmed me.
Studying Latin American history, I remember reading about countries “disappearing people” (los desaparecidos). These horrific acts were carried out by despots on both the extreme right and left. I never could have imagined we would be watching this happen in our own country.
With Kilmar Abrego Garcia, it has happened in defiance of the courts, including now the Supreme Court. How many more people will be rounded up, with no charges filed and no right to due process, only to be “disappeared” into a prison overseas for which there is no transparency and no legal recourse? We are paying El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele $6 million for his collusion.
I am ashamed and afraid for our country if this behavior cannot be stopped. I look to our Congress, if not our courts, to stand up for the values of this wonderful country. This disappearing of people the president doesn’t like appears to have nothing to do with policy goals. Those could be achieved without sacrificing people’s most basic rights.
We used to be a country where one was “innocent until proven guilty.” If sent to a (black hole) prison in El Salvador, it looks like a person becomes guilty with no possibility of proving their innocence. What have we become?
Robin Steinwand
St. Albans
