The USA on the verge of becoming a lawless country – when Trump refuses to obey

The USA on the verge of becoming a lawless country

Wolfgang Hansson

This is a commentary text. Analysis and positions are those of the writer.

Updated 23.37 | Published 22.24

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, in the picture identified by his wife, is forcibly taken through the prison of terror in El Salvador. Photo: AP

A unanimous Supreme Court calls the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia illegal and has ordered President Trump to ensure that he is brought back to the USA.

The administration admits that they made a mistake.

Yet Trump refuses to obey.

The USA is on the verge of turning into a lawless country.

Quick version

• The US Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia was illegal and has ordered his return to the United States.
• The Trump administration has admitted wrongdoing in the case but is still refusing to comply with the order from the Supreme Court, which could lead to a constitutional crisis.
• The case highlights a potential threat to the rule of law in the United States, where Trump's refusal to comply with court decisions undermines the principle of separation of powers and democracy in the country.

Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen living in Maryland. Just over a month ago, he was arrested on charges of belonging to a criminal gang, MS-13. No evidence was presented.

Garcia has been in the United States since 2011, is married, has no criminal record, has a job and denies the charges.

A few days later, he was put on one of several specially chartered military planes to El Salvador, along with a number of other detainees. A federal judge ordered the three planes to turn around, but the White House ignored the order, claiming it was too late.

Once in El Salvador, Garcia was locked up in the infamous giant prison CEGOT, where so many people are held in each cell that they have to take turns sleeping.

Garcia's American wife recognized him in a photo from the deportation.

It was then revealed that a judge had already banned the authorities from deporting Garcia to El Salvador in 2019 because he was considered to be under threat of death by a criminal gang there.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return Garcia to the United States and set a deadline.

Garcia's wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura at a protest against the deportation. Photo: Jose Luis Magana / AP

The government admitted that they had made mistakes but refused to let Garcia return because they had labeled MS-13 a terrorist organization. Instead, they appealed to the Supreme Court and demanded that the case be treated urgently.

Last week, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the deportation was illegal and that Garcia must be returned to the United States.

Trump had previously said that he would follow the Supreme Court's ruling.

But when he held a press conference with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office yesterday, things sounded completely different. Trump claimed that the United States had no way of deporting a foreign national from El Salvador. Attorney General Pam Bondi equated it with "kidnapping."

Sitting next to Trump, Bukele said with a sneer that he had no way of bringing Garcia to the United States.

"How could I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?" he wondered rhetorically, his smile growing wider.

Trump looked very pleased. The president, who can otherwise fix everything from peace in Ukraine to a ceasefire in Gaza, was suddenly completely helpless.

Trump with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele at the White House

Everyone understands that this is just nonsense.

Especially since the US pays Bukele millions to receive people that the US wants to deport.

It would of course be a simple matter for Trump and Bukele to agree to release Garcia from prison and put him on a plane to the US. They could have done it in front of the television cameras in the White House yesterday.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that Garcia has the right to a legal trial in the US where he can defend himself against the charges.

It is worth noting that this opinion was shared by all nine judges of the Supreme Court, including the conservative majority, including the three judges appointed by Trump during his previous presidential term.

If Trump continues to refuse, it means that the US could end up in a serious constitutional crisis.

The country's political system is based on the principle of separation of powers. Congress makes laws, the president has executive power, and the courts are supposed to check that neither Congress nor the courts abuse their power. The Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the laws.

Ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling is like putting yourself above the political system.

That's why this and a number of other cases are being followed so closely in the United States.

Prisoners are crowded into a cell in a mega prison in El Salvador.

If president Trump doesn't even follow a ruling in which he himself admits that the administration made mistakes, what is the state of the rule of law in the United States?

With Trump's argument, anyone, even American citizens, could be deported abroad without being convicted or charged with any crime. Lawless country. A return to the Wild West.

The lawsuit is part of a larger offensive by Trump against the courts. The president claims that they do not have the right to make decisions that mean his executive orders are paused and end up in long-term legal disputes. He has threatened what he calls “activist judges” with impeachment. Something that renders a lesson from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts.

Now it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will act if Trump does not take steps to return Garcia to the United States.

It is an important case of principle that could determine not only the future of the rule of law in the United States but whether the United States will continue to be a country governed by laws rather than by a president who wants to turn himself into a dictator.