This is the Constitutional Crisis You've Been Waiting For
Some ideas for action, and a request for more. With a newsletter called "How to Save Democracy" how could I not double post this week?
The Trump administration is defying a 9-0 Supreme Court decision that ordered them to facilitate the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three that the Trump administration arrested and sent to a prison in El Salvador that is known for its human rights abuses.
The Trump administration accuses Abrego Garcia of being a member of the gang MS-13, but has admitted in its own court filings that this is not true. In fact, a CNN investigation suggests that up to 75% of the men that the Trump administration has sent to a foreign torture prison are not the gang members that the Trump administration says they are. Of course, we have no way of knowing one way or the other because the Trump administration has denied every single one of them their Constitutional right to due process.
Both the Trump administration and the Bukele administration (president of El Salvador) claim that they do not have the authority to release this man from prison. Both Trump and Bukele have expressed a desire to send American citizens to El Salvadoran prisons. Both Trump and Bukele believe that they are above the courts, Congress, and the checks and balances that form a health democracy. And neither Congress nor the courts have police or military options to enforce their will. Congress can, and should, push back on the presidency. They have many mechanisms at their disposal. But with feckless and/or enthusiastically loyal Republicans in charge of Congress, it is unlikely that they will take any of those actions unless we make them.
There’s no one coming. We are all that’s left.
This is it - this is the Constitutional crisis. The Trump administration is rounding people up based on their looks, their tattoos, their friends, their nationality, their ethnicity, and imprisoning them. Does this sound familiar? Does anyone want to guess what happens next?
And honestly even if we could see into the future, and guarantee that this administration will stop with suspected gang members, will not go after American citizens without due process, will obey all future Supreme Court decisions, there is still a man (and likely many men) in a foreign torture prison with no chance to defend himself, and no recourse. Let’s get him back.
So, what do we do, you might ask? Good question. I have a few ideas below, but please, please, please send me any ideas you have, any protests/actions/organizations you think others should know about.
Call your Representative and your Senators and demand that they stand up for due process and American values. Yes, call your Democrats. Yes, call your Republicans. Literally everyone needs to hear from us on this issue. I wrote a script here, and also included some posts that you can share.
Find a protest or an event near you and make your voice heard. There are a bunch of actions listed here that you can try. You can also find some April recess town halls and Tesla Take-Down protests here that you can join. If you go to a town hall, ask your Representative and/or Senator about this. If it’s an empty chair town hall, make sure this is one of the issues that gets a sign or a speaker.
Make sure people know what’s going on.
Text the group chat memo to your group chats with the following message: “Hey friends! Not sure if you saw, but the Trump administration has sent a man to a foreign torture prison without due process who they admitted in court has no gang ties. This is really freaking me out, and I think we need to speak up. There’s a script in this doc for calling your Representative and Senators, and some posts you can share: https://bit.ly/GCMemoCallCongress”
Forward this email to people in your networks.
Post on whatever social media feed you’re still on.
Once you’ve taken an action (called Congress, sent this post around, signed up for an upcoming action) leave a comment and let me know? It’ll make me feel better, it’ll make you feel better, and it’ll make anyone who sees this post feel better.
Now, let’s go to work.