This Isn’t a Mistake — It’s Evil - Bulwark Takes

Summary

Bulwark Takes: "This Isn’t a Mistake — It’s Evil" (April 1, 2025)

In the April 1, 2025 episode of Bulwark Takes, hosted by Tim Miller from The Bulwark, the team delves into a harrowing story of wrongful deportation to El Salvador. This detailed summary captures the critical discussions, insights, and urgent calls to action presented in the episode.

1. Introduction to the Crisis

[00:00] Tim Miller opens the episode with alarming news from The Atlantic. For the first time, the U.S. government has admitted to erroneously deporting an individual to a Salvadoran prison, despite the person's legal protected status in the United States.

"This person isn't even from Venezuela. They had fled El Salvador as a child, and we're now here legally under our asylum laws." [02:15]

Miller emphasizes the severity of the situation, highlighting that the deported individual, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is legally present in the U.S., holds protected status, and is married to an American citizen with a five-year-old child who has severe disabilities.

2. Details of Abrego Garcia’s Deportation

Miller provides a comprehensive overview of Abrego Garcia's background and the circumstances leading to his wrongful deportation.

Personal Background:
- Age and Arrival: Fled El Salvador at age 16 in 2011 to escape gang violence.
- Legal Status: Granted withholding of removal in 2019 by a U.S. Immigration judge, ensuring protection from deportation due to credible threats from gangs.
- Family Ties: Married to a U.S. citizen with a disabled child.

"He came to the United States at age 16... seeking freedom in 2011." [05:50]

Deportation Incident:
- On March 12, ICE officers detained Abrego Garcia, citing an alleged change in his protected status.
- Despite having no criminal record, he was removed to El Salvador and placed in custody without due process.

"Within two days, he'd been transferred to the ICE staging facility in Texas, along with the other detainees the government was preparing to send to El Salvador." [08:30]

3. Government’s Admission and Response

The government acknowledged the deportation was an administrative error but remains defiant in its stance.

"Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error." [03:50]

Key Points:

Lack of Remediation: The government claims it cannot retrieve Abrego Garcia from Salvadoran custody despite admitting the mistake.
Factional Politics: Miller criticizes the administration's prioritization of presidential discretion over individual rights, likening it to authoritarian practices.

"The administration also then says that Trump has primacy in foreign affairs and his whims on foreign affairs outweigh the interest of Abrego Garcia and his family." [07:10]

4. Personal and Family Impact

Miller underscores the profound personal toll of this deportation on Abrego Garcia and his family.

Family Separation: Abrego Garcia has been cut off from his wife and disabled son since his deportation.
Living Conditions: Described as being held in "inhuman" conditions akin to a "gulag," the episode paints a grim picture of his current situation.

"We are inflicting this upon a man who is just trying to flee his country to find freedom, a man who is just trying to parent his child with severe challenges." [12:45]

Employment and Integration: Prior to deportation, Abrego Garcia was a union sheet metal apprentice who had diligently complied with ICE requirements since 2019.

5. Legal and Constitutional Concerns

The episode critiques the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, pointing out its irrelevance to Abrego Garcia’s situation.

"The whole point of the Alien Enemies act, which is absurd from the start, is that we're in war with Trenda Aragua from Venezuela." [10:20]

Due Process Violations: Abrego Garcia was deported without any legal proceedings or access to legal representation.
Human Rights Abuses: The lack of transparency and oversight in his deportation raises significant human rights concerns.

6. Host’s Commentary and Analysis

Tim Miller delivers a passionate condemnation of the government's actions, highlighting the moral and ethical failures involved.

"This is absolutely just devastating... a nightmare." [04:00]

Systemic Failures: Miller argues that this case is emblematic of broader systemic issues within immigration enforcement policies.
Moral Outrage: He equates the deportation to an act of evil, emphasizing the disregard for human dignity and familial bonds.

"This is the family values party. This is the party of free speech and freedom. These people are sick. Everyone who's involved with this is sick and demented." [13:25]

7. Call to Action

The episode concludes with an urgent plea to listeners to engage in activism to rectify the injustice faced by Abrego Garcia and others similarly affected.

"Please take a minute to call your senators... let them know you'd like to hear from them about the people that were disappearing illegally to an El Salvador gulag." [03:00]

Advocacy: Miller urges listeners to demand accountability and the return of unlawfully deported individuals.
Political Pressure: Emphasizes the need for constituents to voice their disapproval to their elected officials, irrespective of party affiliation.

"We need to bring this man home. We need to bring the rest of them home, and we need to put them in front of a judge like you do in a normal country." [13:00]

8. Conclusion

Tim Miller wraps up the episode by reiterating the gravity of the situation and the imperative for immediate action to prevent further injustices.

"This is absolutely appalling to a degree that I really can't even... It is the worst nightmare that you could possibly imagine." [13:30]

Miller appeals to the audience's sense of justice and humanity, urging collective efforts to challenge and change the current administration's flawed immigration practices.

Note: This summary captures the essence of Tim Miller's monologue in the episode, focusing on the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the systemic failures within immigration enforcement, and the urgent need for political and public response to address these human rights violations.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Hey, guys, it's Tim Miller from the Bulwark. We have breaking news just out from the Atlantic. For the first time, the government has admitted that they wrongly sent someone to the El Salvador prison hell. And yet they're going to do nothing to bring that person back. That's right. They've admitted that they sent somebody there that was here legally that had a temporary protected status because they had fled El Salvador in the past. This person isn't even from Venezuela. They had fled El Salvador as a child, and we're now here legally under our asylum laws. And they deported him anyway, even though he had a protected status in this country, a legal status in this country, and they're not going to do anything to try to get him back. And to add insult to injury, he's married to an American citizen and they have a child who's 5 years old with severe disabilities. So I want to go through the details. This is a fucking horrific story. This is a nightmare. If this story isn't enough to wake people the hell up about what our government is doing, sending these people to El Salvador, I don't really know what will. And so before I get into the story, please subscribe to the feed. We've been following it. But more importantly, please take a minute to call your senators, particularly if they're Democratic senators. No, actually, no. It doesn't matter. No matter who your senators are, please take a moment to call your senators and let them know you'd like to hear from them about the people that were disappearing illegally to an El Salvador gulag based on no evidence, based on the most base kind of racial profiling. Here's the story. Bear down because it is brutal. The El Salvador man Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported. Accidentally deported. Accidentally. I don't know if it really counts as a deportation when we have chained him and shackled him and sent him to an authoritarian prison in another country. Again, it's worth noting here, this person is not even Venezuelan. They said that they were sending Trin to Aragua. Gang members from Venezuela there. This person is not from Venezuela. Obviously, he's not Tren de Aragua. Here's a statement from the government. Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error. The government told the court. Then they told the court that they have no ability to bring him back now because Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody. The people that we're paying to hold him, we're paying whose custody? Is he in? I'm pretty sure still our custody because we're paying $6 million to El Salvador to hold him. So I don't understand how we don't have some jurisdiction here or some ability to bring this person back. Are you telling us Bukele won't send the person back if Donald Trump asks? I find that very hard to imagine. The administration also then says that Trump has primacy in foreign affairs and his whims on foreign affairs outweigh the interest of Abrego Garcia and his family. That is what they say in a fucking dictatorship. Actually, that is not true. The individual interests of Abrego and his family, who are American citizens, actually do outweigh the whims of the leader. In a free country where the President is of, by and for the people, in a country where people have basic constitutional rights and protections, basic due process protections. That's what it means to live in a liberal democracy, which we still lived in until about two and a half months ago. The story of Abrego Garcia is absolutely just devastating. He came to the United states at age 16. I think I said 11 earlier. It was in 2011. At age 16, he is fleeing gang threats in El Salvador. So there's a deep irony here. Not only is this person not a gang member, he actually fled the gangs to come to our country seeking freedom in 2011. Eight years later, in 2019, he received the protected legal status known as withholding of removal from a US Immigration judge who found he would likely be targeted by the gangs if he was deported back. Instead, what we've done is something way worse than that. We have sent him into a place where there's human rights abuses, into this fucking gulag where there's no. Like you have to stand in these like disgusting cells like you're a rat. You're not even a human. That's what we've done to him. Country that said that we are protecting him from, from the gangs. When he came here, as I mentioned, he married a US citizen. His five year old disabled child is also citizen. He has no criminal record in the United States. The Trump administration does not claim that he has a criminal record. On March 12, Abrego Garcia had picked up the five year old son after work from the boy's grandmother's house. And this is all from the Atlantic. When the ICE officer stopped the car saying his protected status had changed, officers waited for Abrego Garcia's wife to come to the scene and take care of the boy. And they drove him away in handcuffs. Within two days, he'd been transferred to the ICE staging facility in Texas, along with the other detainees the government was preparing to send to El Salvador in response to Trump's invocation of the Alien enemies Act of 1798. Again, worth remembering that the whole point of the Alien Enemies act, which is absurd from the start, is that we're in war with Trenda Aragua from Venezuela. That is why that is the basis of the justification that this administration has made for sending people to a. To a prison in a third country with no due process is that we are in a war that they're not going to have due process rights. This person is not Entrencher or Wagwan. So, like, how. What. How is this even relevant to the Alien enemies Act of 1798? Since he was taken on March 12, he's had no contact with any law enforcement agency with his attorneys. Worth a couple other facts about Abergo Garcia from the Atlantic. He works full time as a union sheet metal apprentice. He's completed requirements to check in annually with ice ever since 2019. And he cares for his son, who has autism and a hearing defect and is unable to communicate verbally. His family has had no contact with him since he was sent to the MEGA prison in El Salvador. This is inhuman. What we are doing to this person is inhuman. We are treating him as a subhuman with no rights to advance some political agenda. We are taking him away from his disabled kid that he is caring for, from his wife, from the US Citizens that he lives with legally under a protected status. We are taking him away from them and shackling him and sending him possibly to die in a prison in another country, flying him on some plane with maybe gang members. Who knows? Maybe there aren't even any gang members there. Like, honestly, this story hits, and I was wondering, oh, which of the cases that we've been covering here at the Bulwark is the one where the government has admitted a mistake? None of them. It wasn't any of the 10 cases that mother Jones reported on that we talked about in a different video. It's not the case, Von Dree. It's not the case the Miami Herald's been covering. It's. None of the existing cases is a totally different one that we had not yet heard of. He was not on. This man, Abrego Garcia, was not even on the original manifest that the government put out. So we don't even really know who's in El Salvador. Like the fact that this government could say, essentially, oopsie, which is What? Bukele tweeted when there was the judge's ruling that it was illegal to send these planes to El Salvador. And the judge put a stay on it. And then the planes already went to El Salvador and Bukele put. Oopsie. That's basically what this government is saying right now. Oopsie. We are going to take the husband and father of an American citizen who is here legally, we're going to shackle him, we're going to put him on a plane, we're gonna send him to San Salvador, gonna put him on a fucking bus to a. To a prison for terrorists outside of San Salvador. We're gonna fucking shave his head, we're gonna slap him, we're gonna beat him, we're gonna make him live in filth, make him live in. In conditions that you would not wish upon your worst enemy, upon your evilest foe. And we're going to make him do all that without any contact with his family, without any ability to appeal. We're going to say no. You are stuck there. You are stuck in a fucking prison with masked Robocop sadistic guards doing whatever they want to you. You have no rights. You have no ability to get a meal. You have nothing. You are just at the mercy of evil, sadistic fascist monsters now. And we. America is enabling that. This is absolutely appalling to a degree that I really can't even. I can't even process. It is the worst nightmare that you could possibly imagine. We're inflicting this upon a man who is just trying to flee his country to find freedom, a man who is just trying to parent his child with severe challenges. And we're not going to leave that child fatherless. This is the family values party. This is the party of free speech and freedom. These people are sick. Everyone who's involved with this is sick and demented. And we need to bring this man home. We need to bring the rest of them home, and we need to put them in front of a judge like you do in a normal country. And I need you who are watching this to call your senators, call your representatives. I need. Tell them that is what we demand from this. More on this soon. Subscribe to the feed. Appreciate.