I've been occupied with a lot of real-life matters over the course of the past few weeks. Those have kept me from being "tuned in" to much of the current news. The last several days though have seen a lot of chatter about Kilmar Abrego Garcia: the "Maryland man" from El Salvador who was sent back to his country of origin last month courtesy of the Trump Administration. And there is a lot that could be said about this case: from the dubious rationale he used to enter this country, to the possible violations of the Logan Act by the Democratic Party in trying to bring Garcia back to America.
(Say, why isn't there that kind of concern for the U.S. citizens who have suffered loss and injury and death at the hands of illegal immigrants? Seems like the Democrats - their elected officials and party leadership especially - have chosen the Kilmar Garcia affair as their mountain to die on. That kind of strategy ain't gonna help them come next election, I have to believe.)
What's my take on this situation?
I'm now left with the conclusion that though the administration made an error in process, the fact is that Garcia was not supposed to be in the country at all. His rationale for asylum was filed years after his arrival in the United States, it can't readily be said that he was fleeing danger (because a gang was targeting his mom's tortilla business?). It can't be said that he would be in danger if he returned to El Salvador of his own volition: the gang he said was threatening him has for all intents and purposes been eliminated. And there is substantial evidence gathered by law enforcement that he is involved with MS-13: an organization on the list of terrorist groups and something that would completely invalidate Garcia's legal means of being in America.
So, to me at least, as I understand it, Garcia is in a mess of his own making. He could have and should have returned to El Salvador on his own. There exists no further reason for him to hide out in the United States. He had every opportunity to make this right and he didn't take it. And now he has wound up back in El Salvador anyway, among the gang members he allegedly was trying to escape to begin with.
That doesn't totally excuse the administration from deporting him the way that it did. But in the scheme of things it expedited something that was likely going to happen anyway.
The moral of the story, friends and neighbors, is that if you enter the United States as a foreign citizen, mind your manners and adhere to our rules. You'll stay out of trouble. Don't wind up like Kilmar Garcia.
Look, I'm all FOR legal immigration on the path to citizenship. I've been fortunate to know many who have come to this country from other lands. One gentleman who I worked with a few years ago comes to mind, he was originally from South Africa. I know Dad hired a number of people who came from Mexico and were in the process of bringing their families to the U.S. to become naturalized citizens. Lately I've attended church with quite a lot of people who originated from Eastern Europe.
I still believe that America is the "melting pot" of people who intend to contribute to her greatness. But those who come here to get the benefits without going through the proper process of demonstrating that they are going to take up the responsibilities of citizenship, they do NOT belong here.
Yes, many have come to America's shores to escape tyranny elsewhere. I have known some of those also. But the days of Jewish scholars fleeing the Nazi regime are long past. Those seeking proper asylum here from oppressive and dangerous situations in their countries in large part either intend to return to their homelands someday, or they go through the naturalization process the *proper* way. However they do it, they are honoring the laws of the United States as their host country.
But as much as we might want, the United States *can't* accept everyone who wants to be here. There comes a time when the people of a country have to take matters into their own hands and make their native lands better. Whether that's by assuming greater responsibility through choosing better leadership or by overthrowing their oppressors (like what happened in Romania in 1989). The Americans can't do that for them and it would be wrong to try.
Garcia seems to have wanted the benefits of being in America without assuming the responsibility. He wasn't honoring American law. And if he is the member of a gang deemed to be a terrorist organization, that's much worse for him. He's not a man without a country. He has a country. It's called El Salvador. And it's where he belongs. That he married here and has children is something he contributed to his own mess.
Who knows, maybe there is still some way he could enter America lawfully in light of his family here. It is sad that they are caught up in this. But in the end, Garcia owns this, despite how the Trump administration bungled some things.
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