Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and constructing reality
This is a win. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is in the United States. And the Trump administration coordinated this news for a Friday because that’s when you dump news perceived to be bad for your administration. It’s the weekend. People are distracted (hopefully) with family and friends.
And it comes on the heels of Trump and Musk showing us all, again, that they are unserious and immature, pathetic honestly. Scott Galloway gets it right in this clip.
The conservative movement is currently led by unhealthy, dangerous people.
We know that there are other men (Andry José Hernández Romero, for example) who were wrongfully deported to CECOT in El Salvador. They all deserve due process, every single one.
A recent 60 Minutes investigation concluded that approximately 75% of the 238 Venezuelan men deported to CECOT in El Salvador had no apparent criminal records in the U.S. or abroad. Only about 22% had criminal histories, mostly for non-violent offenses like theft or trespassing, while around a dozen faced serious charges such as murder or assault.
Abrego Garcia is back in the United States because people fought back. The press exposed the truth. The courts did enough, barely. But it’s a win.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and her justice department appear to have decided to abuse the power of the Justice Department against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Even if he is found guilty of “conspiracy to unlawfully transport undocumented migrants for financial gain” and/or “unlawful transportation of undocumented migrants for financial gain,” this will have been an utter farce.
This case stems from a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022, in which Garcia was pulled over for speeding and veering out of his lane. Officers found eight passengers in his vehicle, all without luggage. This raised suspicions of human smuggling, though no charges were filed at the time. The vehicle he was driving was registered to José Ramón Hernández Reyes, a convicted human trafficker deported in 2020.
Federal authorities reopened the case in April 2025, after Garcia was wrongfully sent to El Salvador. So if Abrego Garcia had not been wrongfully deported to a foreign prison, this case would have never happened.
The reopened investigation led to a grand jury indictment in the Middle District of Tennessee on May 21, 2025. The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2025, he participated in over 100 trips transporting migrants from Texas to various parts of the U.S., including alleged members of the MS-13 gang.
I do not trust our justice department. No one should. The United States Justice Department is Donald Trump’s personal enforcer. The case against Abrego Garcia is largely dependent of six unnamed co-conspirators, at least as far as the indictment is concerned.
The good news is that the Justice Department will have to prove their case in a court of law. The character of the co-conspirators will be questioned. This is as it should be. This is due process. Let’s hope that the truth emerges, and justice is done.
But justice is not what the Trump administration is pursuing. The reality that must be constructed now, for conservatives, for MAGA followers, is one in which Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a criminal. This is a necessity and it will be relentless followed by the MAGA movement, both in and outside of government.
The right wing media will do its part. Abrego Garcia will be demonized, dismissed, mocked, and smeared. This is absolutely guaranteed. They will lie with ease and with glee. In fact, they will smear Democrats for supporting Abrego Garcia’s right to due process.
Republican members of Congress will step forward to smear Abrego Garcia and to smear Democrats. There are very few, if any, individuals of conscience or integrity remaining in the Republican caucus.1
It would be foolish to put any faith in Republican members of Congress. But it would also be foolish to give up entirely on such a scenario. People really do have agency.
All of this extremely absurd and dangerous. Don’t lose sight of that. We have come to place where our country is being run by unhealthy, cruel, ignorant, and immature people.
Linda McMahon is running the Department of Education. Pete Hegseth is still the Secretary of Defense.
I leave you with this from Hank Green, a smart and kind person.
Let’s hope this changes. This is the single easiest way for sanity to return to the country. A small group of Republican House members and Senate members could take down this administration.