Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Hart

To the Editor:

The rule of law is wobbling in America. The Trump administration has taken people off the street, accused them of being a terrorist, and removed them from our country without a hearing or due process.
Abre Garcia was 16 when he came to the U.S. to escape threats and being terrorized in his own country. He was given a work permit, had a full-time job and family, checked in annually with Immigration, and was living a productive life. March 12, ICE agents pulled him into a car, and March 15 he was sent to the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador that is known for torture, abuse, and killings. (Our government is paying El Salvador $6 million a year to incarcerate individuals there.)

March 31, the U.S. admitted Garcia’s arrest was done by mistake but there was nothing that could be done about it. Since that time the case has moved through the courts, including the Supreme Court, which ruled that Garcia should be brought home.

April 14 in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump told the president of El Salvador “We want to do the home-grown next. You gotta build more spaces.” Trump has talked about this scheme before. August 12, 2024 in a discussion with Elon Musk he insisted that other countries are “brilliant”, sending away all their bad people, their nonproductive people. “Not the people that will kill you, but those that don’t want to work, for whatever reason. Get rid of them.”

We cannot be passive and indifferent in this moment. The words of German pastor Martin Niemowller during the Nazi rule: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Who will stand up for our constitution? Who will speak for you? Ashley Hinson, who fully supports Trump and his regime? What about our Senators? This is the time for speaking out before you no longer can. Because, as I am learning, it can happen here.

Ann Hart
Waukon