Dear Bob –

A few weeks ago, students from one of our “pre-law” clubs on campus asked me if I would be willing to speak to them about this moment in Constitutional time and engage in Q&A from audience members after, and of course, I said yes.

“Are we witnessing a Constitutional Crisis?” they asked.

First, I provided historical examples: President Jackson and Justice Marshall in 1832; Truman and the Steel Mills in 1952; Nixon and Archibald Cox in 1973.  These historical examples, where Executives refused to obey laws passed by Congress and orders issued by Federal Judges, illustrate the topography of Constitutional crisis territory.

“So let’s look at the landmarks before us right now.  Tell me, what do you see?”

The students replied that they were watching the Executive branch attacking a free press; publicly threaten judges who render opinions they disagree with; firing Inspectors general; blackmailing private law firms and universities; unilaterally dissolving and reorganizing Executive agencies without the express authorization of Congress…

Yes – I acknowledged these things were true and that we should all remain vigilant.  But we, as a country, have been through times of crisis before – we have literally waged war against each other, and the Constitution withheld the assaults and trauma.  Future lawyers, you have the capacity to keep the ship afloat.  We are Constitutional Officers of the Court, sworn to protect and defend the charter and its mandates.  Keep the faith!  Hold the line!

But that was two weeks ago.  Before yesterday, one could quibble about whether the technical threshold to Constitutional Crisis-Land had been crossed.

But anyone who cares about the Rule of Law and the Constitution knows that yesterday, in the Oval Office, the Executive branch took a copy of the Constitution to the bathroom and wiped their collective asses with it.

Specifically, on April 10, the United States Supreme Court directed the Trump administration  “to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador” (604 U.S. ____, 2 (2025)).

The government admits this man (visa holder, father of three with no criminal history here or in El Salvador) was illegally deported to the ONE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD the federal courts had already declared he could NOT BE DEPORTED TO.

In a sardonic twist (?), four days later, the President of El Salvador, with whom the United States could communicate, negotiate and “facilitate” the man’s release, is sitting in the Oval Office with President Trump.  Do we see Trump illustrate the art of the deal and facilitate release?

No – instead we see Steven Miller and AG Pam Bondi attempt to law-splain the decision to Grandpa Trump, skip the truth-part of the Court’s order, wad up a fresh copy the Constitution and stuff it in the cracks of the couch.

In sum, we are bearing witness to the programmatic dismantling of the only institutions that have the power to keep, per General McMaster, Trump the Fascist in check.  And everyone who values freedom should be sounding the alarm.

Carrie Archie Russell, JD, PhD

Principal Senior Lecturer

Department of Political Science

Director of Pre-Law Advising

Vanderbilt University

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In the defense of the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in some of the e-mails below, there is a lot of misinformation. For the accurate story read:

“What to Know About the Mistaken Deportation of a Maryland Man to El Salvador – President Trump’s aides abruptly said the man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, had been lawfully sent to a prison in El Salvador, contradicting what officials themselves have said in court filings.”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/politics/abrego-garcia-trump-deportations-el-salvador.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AE8.2X72.O9If_3ChWkCb&smid=url-share

Oh, that can’t be right, it can’t be accurate, it’s in the failing “New York Times”! But in the MAGA bubble…as I write this you have to go down seven rows to see a story about Kilmar on FoxNews.com, and it’s just “Dem senator says he’s going to El Salvador to show solidarity for deported man.”

However, the true headline story today is:

“Judge Scolds Government for Doing ‘Nothing’ to Return Wrongly Deported Man – A federal judge rebuked a Justice Department lawyer during a hearing, saying the government had not facilitated the man’s return despite court orders to do so”

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04/15/us/trump-news

This is the headline story in the “New York Times,” the “Washington Post,” CNN and the Google News. The “Wall Street Journal” features the story if you click one page down in your browser.

I scrolled and scrolled on the Fox News site and I could not find an article on this hearing.

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Hi Bob, just got through calling my two senators office. They acted like they didn’t know anything about this due process issue. I gave both an ear full. Told them just what you said about this issue transcending politics. One dropped the facade and agreed that this is an issue that does really need to be addressed. He was at least honest and said Senator Rounds was getting “quite a few calls” about it. The other acted dumb until he got tired of me belittling him for not being up front with me. This was senator Thune’s office. My message for the senator was to stand up for due process and the courts! I also berated him about his meeting tomorrow in my home town. Come to find out it’s only for registered republicans! His answer to why was, they didn’t want their meeting disrupted. After I got done with a diatribe about shutting his constituency out, he was done with me and told he was going to hang up. I know I pissed him off and it was exactly what i trying to do! He hasn’t heard the last of me by a long shot. Speaking of shots, I’m from the land of Kristi Noem. My dog and goat are as good as dead! KEEP FIGHTING!

Russ Wilson

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Bob, put your money where your mouth is, let’s bring him back and deliver him to your front lawn. You’re such a big talker. Will you be his sponsor for citizenship?  Stick to being a “fan boy. “ starf$&@$r. Something you’re an “expert” at.  You’re a miserable, cowardly, big liberal Democrat jaw flapper. Trump has every right to do this. The majority are happy he is removing known violent MS-13 gang members. Do your homework.

David Price

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I love the Pastor Martin Niemöller admonition.

Another take I’ve heard is:
First they came for the media.
After that we don’t know what happened.

John Diliberto

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Absolute gobbledegook

Adam Howell

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Yawn!

Dennis Paulik

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The House Democrats should ALL go en masse to El Salvador and not return until they bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia with them

Buck McWilliams

 

It’s all a con. They’ll never relinquish power. I’ll be surprised if there’s a an election in 2026, or if there is one, if it is a fair election in the great American tradition. More likely,  it will just be Kabuki theatre like in Russia, Turkey or Hungary, where each has changed the rules to ensure the people in power prevail. With their tiny majority in Congress, they can’t take a chance on free and fair elections. That’s why the president has already signed an Executive Order making it much harder for those who might oppose him to vote.

 

It began with flimsy excuses for why they can’t obey court orders. They rank right up there with, “The dog ate my homework.” Once they’ve proven they can get away with it, they’ll transition to just ignoring the courts without excuses.

No one inside the administration will save us this time around. There are no stand-up people in the West Wing. Suck-ups rule. Rubio? Bondi? Stormy Daniels is the only one even remotely qualified for her position.

Jon Sinton

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Yes we must express outrage, but when we protest, you say that it doesn’t move the needle. So what do we do? There obviously are millions of us that oppose this. What has happened to Abrego Garcia is frightening and meanwhile Trump entertains The President of El Salvador (Bukele) who “has dismantled democratic institutions, curtailed political and civil liberties, and attacked independent media and the political opposition”. Sounds like Trump right? If we allow the sending of innocent’s to these prison’s The Clash need another verse to Washington Bullets. But the Maga’s thinks this is perfectly ok, they don’t seem to believe in due process. Innocent until proven guilty? Not in their playbook. How can we reason with that? Trump is destroying our judicial system, higher education (Critical thinking) and  freedom of speech. He ostracizes the press and the Maga’s just gloat. Meanwhile, I worry about Abrego Garcia and the other innocents in that jail. What can we do?

Kathryn Russ

Nashville, TN

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Very well said, Bob.  Now we need everyone screaming it at the top of our lungs.  This could be us next.

TJackson

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Nice one, Bob.

One problem:

Trump is now the Don.
His rating are the Highest ever.

Now he leads with those who have a university degree.

They have removed all the guardrails.

The law has been trampled.

Good people have capitulated.

The rest are turning away…

MadMax rules America.

Bob Dylan sang ‘With God On Our, Side’

May this prove to be true.

Patric van Blrtk

Cape, Town

South Africa

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The impact of your Liberal diatribes, Bob.

“Polling shows growing number of Republicans identify with the MAGA movement — More than one-third of registered voters identified themselves as MAGA supporters in March’s NBC News poll. That includes 71% of Republicans.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/polling-shows-growing-number-republicans-identify-maga-movement-rcna201071

Jim Willis

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Let’s have a George Floyd style prevision of justice all over again.  Rally the troops, Bob!

“But one single guy who did nothing wrong.”

Being in the US illegally is “doing nothing wrong”?

“This was just one of those examples of an individual that is in the US illegally, is a MS-13 gang associate, with multiple charges and encounters with MS-13 individuals here, trafficking in his background, was found with other MS-13 gang members, and the fact that the liberal left and fake news media are turning Garcia into a media darling is sickening.

George Floyd all over again, Bob.

This is why we have Trump.

Jim Willis

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Bob, thank you for writing today. The country faces a Constitutional crisis, and I’m hoping more speak out.

If MLK lived today, he’d be speaking out like his “Beyond Vietnam” speech: “If the soul of America becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam.” What would he write in 2025?

Yesterday, the president told press he’d like to send “homegrown criminals” (i.e. American citizens) to El Salvador prison with no legal process. When does America acknowledge its 1933 Enabling Act rhetoric now in 2025 terms?

Mike Vial

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We the people!

Never has those words carry more weigh that the present time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anthony Siroka

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I agree with you this is not acceptable.  This guy may be a gang member that should have never been allowed into the US, however, he was allowed to enter.  And the current administration acknowledged their error in deporting him.  I hope he remains safe in his homeland until which time he can be returned to the US and have his day in our court.

What I don’t get is that so many are losing their $hit about this one guy.  While the same folks that had no issues with tens of millions entering the US illegally and committing crimes, killing and raping children, for the last four years. And recently learning that millions were given SS numbers to access benefits.  And from this group, not a peep…not from them, not from legacy media….what changed?

Thanks,

Ed

Edmund J. Kelly

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Thanks for your insightful takes on current events…

What is most ironic about the Kilmar story is that a lot of MAGA folks are fine with it because a) they think they will never be on Niemöller’s list b) they think their guy (or at least the movement) will be in power forever. Whatever executive powers Trump is claiming as his own, the next guy can claim. And the next guy will likely not espouse MAGA values, probably the opposite. And in fact, they may avail themselves of the same awful levers our current president himself has created: a blizzard of executive orders, lists of enemies, forcing universities and law firms to toe an ideological line, deporting right wing “terrorists” as enemies of the state, stripping of due process of anyone who disagrees. EVERYTHING TRUMP DOES, creates a precedent for the next guy. If you’re MAGA, take a long minute and think about the worst possible “next guy” you can think of… It could be someone like AOC or Obama or Bernie with George Soros as the DOGE billionnaire (but in reverse) with 20-something year old DEI or philosophy PhD candidates running amok throughout the government with no restraints and full access to your private data. Chew on that for a second and then think long and hard about whether or not selling out our Constitution and way of life is worth the short term pleasure of owning the libs.

Nothing is permanent. Nothing ever stays the same in this country. What’s good for the goose will be good for the gander. And frankly, I don’t want either side to ever have so much power. I respectfully ask my MAGA friends to join me and millions of others in standing up for the constitution now. When the tables turn (and they certainly will), I solemnly swear that I will join you (my MAGA friends) in defending the constitution as well. I don’t care what your beliefs are, we should all stand up for what is right (and constitutional).

– JP, Long time reader, patriot and supporter of the constitution.

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You Americans need to step up.  It’s not good enough just complaining / making memes of Trump, Musk, Vance etc on social media. It’s just preaching to the choir… For God”s sake, get out in the streets and protest,but in greater hordes than last week. And do it every week, every day.  Go on strike. Boycott products. Fight. Engage in real political movements like in the 60s and 70s. Because what’s happening now is just the beginning. Democracy is being disassembled as we speak. It’s real.

And remember that the real danger is not Trump. He is just an imbecill.  It’s this guy you should look out for: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin

Curtis’ Dark Enlightment is the manifest for Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and many other technocrats – people who are gaining more and more power over the the state, economy and the media. And they are supported by republicans such as Bannon and JD Vance (probably the next president as Trump will never last four years).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

Dark times ahead.

James Körner

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Great “rant”,  Bob — totally on key and completely on point……..

Lance Hicks

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Absolutely right. We either live by Constitutional law or we throw our “exceptionalism” over the side, and we are run just like any other tinhorn strongman state. I was raised in the public schools to believe in COnstitutional law. I was raised on a lot of stuff I now know is crap, but that principle holds up…at least for me. I will never give in.

Joe Lee Henderson

Yonkers NY

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Thank you for speaking up about this. It’s absolutely wrong and we are in for the worst.

Kaveh Rastegar

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Bob. You’ve got this all wrong. CBS reported that 75 percent of the illegally abducted migrants sent to CECOT didn’t have a criminal record.

BRING EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM HOME NOW.

love remains the essential technology

Kate McGee

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Trump and his ICE Brownshirts will come for you …

Dreadful to watch USA being corrupted by this Felon president.

Stay safe Bob

Tim Casey
WA Australia

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Right on Bob,

But this is only but one sad sign of the times.

Trump might try to fool us into thinking he loves America, but he clearly HATES Americans, regardless of their legal status!

He just wants our property.

And in time, the MAGA “suckers and losers” will feel his wrath too as they are already losing their jobs, farms and homes.

Freda Payne? How about we spin some Don McLean?

Bye, bye Miss American Pie…China’s gonna come and eat us alive…

Lee Elliott

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Thank you. Great post. I just don’t get how some people don’t feel the urgency and severity of the situation.  Cinzia Zanetti

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Julie Mason on XM 124 called what Bukele said about how not being able to bring him back to the US “Kabuki theater”.

Mellissa Ward

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Totally agree–Mr. Garcia did have a deportation order although not to El Salvador and the lack of due process is disgusting.  And Andry Romero, a gay makeup artist who used the DHS app to make an appointment for asylum and apparently followed all the rules was sent to the gulag in El Salvador–pure evil.  It is simply disgusting and glad you are amplifying that message.   (Bloomberg media says 87% of the people deported in the first wave to El Salvador have no criminal records).

Jeff Rosen

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Bob – you are absolutely right. Me being outraged is not enough. Every single creative, artistic, celebrity, musical force should be taking a stand. NOW is the time. We need to rise up together. This has gone too far. If we don’t acknowledge what it is and hit back hard – we’re finished. We need JUSTICE. Bring Kilmar home.

Joe Wilford

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Except for the whole “in a notorious, violent, and dangerous prison gang that requires a murder, rape, or other felony to gain membership THEN entered our country illegally” – he’s a complete innocent. “Other than that, did you enjoy the play, Mrs Lincoln?”

Patrick V. Cook

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Add to this the arrest today of Columbia student activist Monson Mahdawi, despite his not being accused of any crime.   Whatever apparently thinly veined threat he allegedly poses to national security (absent the government actually proving such threat via due process ) pales in comparison to the threat to our democracy of the government summarily punishing mere offensive speech.

Do I like what Mahdawi has said, or the fact that he has organized Columbia students the way he had.  Hell no.  That’s not the point.  Free speech matters most when we dislike the content of the speech the most.

There may be a lane for expelling such students through due process.  If someone is in the US legally through a student visa and they engage in conduct that violates university policy such that they are expelled (following the due process dictated by that university for such alleged offenses), then the fundamental basis for that student’s legal right to be in the country in the first place, i.e. the student visa, not longer exists.  In such instances, ICE would have a basis to expel such student from the US for being here without a legal visa (and presumably there is no other legal basis for him to continue to remain in the country on the original visa).

But these expedient shortcuts taken by ICE are not based in the rule of law, but some trumped up excuse to take performative action that panders to a base of supporters.

Scary times indeed.  Jews should remember why we fought to allow the KKK to peacefully march through Skokie.  And why that was such an important victory for all of our freedom.

Richard Levy

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I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s highly unlikely this guy ever gets returned to the US, unless a Democrat administration takes office in the future and brings him back. This press conference today thoroughly explained this guy’s immigration status and why he’s unlikely to return: https://youtu.be/C-BhC0QHDfY. It’s up to you whether you believe what Miller said in this press conference, but it’s probably more accurate that the narrative that the media spun about this guy, which you seem to have accepted at face value.

TCP

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This case is a very bad look for the Trump administration. Emotionally, morally, it smells rotten. Many of your points are completely valid.

However, it’s also not the case on which the left should make its stand…because legally, Mr Garcia has a VERY weak case. There is NO scenario where he ends up living in the US, none, even if the administrative error that led to his landing in prison in El Salvador is fully corrected (which I agree  should happen.)

The level of due process is different in immigration court than in a criminal court. If Mr Garcia were accused of a crime, and being tried in criminal court, he would be entitled to all of the same protections that we are as citizens.

In immigration court, however, the level of due process is lower. In requesting a deportation order, for example, there is no burden of proof on the govt to show that he is a danger, only to show that he came here illegally, which is absolutely unchallenged in this case. He had due process, and a valid deportation order was issued

Then we get to the issue of the withholding order that people mistakenly believe means he shouldn’t have been deported. That is incorrect. It said only that he couldn’t be deported to El Salvador specifically (though he could be deported anywhere else) and was only in effect so long as the danger to him in El Salvador existed (i.e., the gang he claimed was threatening him and his family)

Let’s recap and look at the actual facts, many of which are omitted in the corporate owned press outlets that are full of reporters that have more moral indignation than immigration subject matter expertise.

Mr Garcia came here illegally, by his own admission. He allowed the one year window in which one can make an asylum claim to pass without making such a claim. The judge at his first immigration court deemed  that he was likely an MS-13 member, based on witness testimony including confidential informants. Mr Garcia appealed that decision and the higher level immigration court judge ALSO deemed that he was likely an MS13 gang member.

A legally valid deportation order was issued, and then, virtually on the eve of his deportation Mr Garcia essentially said “wait, I claim asylum. There’s this gang that wants to kill me and my family so you can’t send me back there”.

As a result, the judge then issued a witholding order that said he couldn’t be deported TO EL SALVADOR…for as long as the gang threat to him there existed. It didn’t say that he could not be deported to another country. It didn’t say that he could not be held in a detention facility here in the US. It did not say that he could not be deported back to El Salvador if the threat to him no longer exists/

The Biden administration allowed him to walk out of court and to stay here, undetained.

The Trump administration could have legally deported him to any country OTHER than El Salvador and would be in compliance with the courts. It could also have gone back to the judge who issued the witholding order and credibly argued that the gang threat to Mr Garcia no longer exists given the crack down by El Salvaor’s president.

You and I probably agree that the President of El Salvador is violating human rights in appalling ways to achieve said crack down…but I believe the Trump administration would easily convince the immigration court that the gang which Mr Garcia claims previously threatened him no longer exists. In other words, I think it’s likely they would have easily won an argument to lift the witholding order, which would then give them a clear path to deporting him back to his home country of El Salvador.

And if the administration failed to win that argument, they could still legally deport him to any country other than El Salvador.

Regardless, there is NO scenario where this man is going to live with his wife in MD…none.

I do think we need to follow the letter of the law, and its spirit. All of that said, this is not a highly sympathetic case on which to take a stand.

The Biden administration let millions of unvetted people across the border, and while the overwhelming majority are “good people” looking for a better life, that’s not the ONLY point to focus on.

Some of those millions are criminals, and some of them are very violent criminals. Some of them have killed US citizens and some have secually abused US teens. We can’t just wave an amnesty wand over ten million people once a decade and keep going with the same policies of the last two decades.

Moreover, NONE of the illegal entrants, even the most saintly, should be going to the front of the line ahead of people who are following our legal process for obtaining a green card and citizenship.

This guy has NO right to be here. None. He’s had his due process in immigration court. Now follow the procedures to the letter of the law and deport him wherever, but he shouldn’t be here.

Donald

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I share your outrage regarding Garcia’s deportation, not to mention Trump’s comments today regarding considering deporting also US citizens. The problem is that my hunch is that this was not a “random mistake” but part of a plan. You see Gracia is a citizen of El Salvador, hence self-declared dictator Bukele has full jurisdiction over him once he is in El Salvador. Because of this Trump can claim that he cannot do anything to rectify the “mistake” (of course it is a lie, but a legally difficult to challenge one).

One of the significant problems we have is that unlike the first Trump administration they are thoroughly prepared for the second one and used some rather smart people/lawyers to plan things (e.g., the way to blackmail top notch law firms, like Skadden Arps and Paul Weiss, into submission and to carry their water, etc.). The Democrats’ problem has been that they never plan ahead and when they have power they are afraid to use it. Had Biden named an attorney general worthy of the title (not that incompetent lazy Garland who was afraid of his own shadow) Trump would be in prison not in the WH.

I do not believe that mass protests on the streets would make a difference. In fact, they can be dangerous because on large protests there are often opportunist criminals who start burning/robbing/destroying things (see the BLM protests), and Trump is just waiting for this to declare martial law, which would give him truly dictatorial powers without “interference” from the courts. On the other hand, I do not know what to do now aside of hoping for and working for a big Dem win at the midterms (assuming that midterms will happen). Our country is in a pretty dire situation and the Democrats (many of them caring much more about Gaza and Intifada than our own country and democracy) have a lot to do with it.

Regards: Thomas S.

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I never thought I’d see this happen so fast!

Project 2025 outlined it all.

They’re winning and there must be some push back.

Harvard’s Jewish president basically said F U!  This may be the stake in the ground that starts a rebellion.

-will eggleston

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You mentioned Bill Maher’s most recent show.

If you’ve worked as a reporter like I have, you will notice that Maher was particularly weak – the way the lapdog journalists and access journalists tend to be. He was obviously right to take up the opportunity the meeting presented, and he seemingly did a good job confronting him on his rampant abuse of power, but when you hear Maher’s intonations, they’re noticeably warmer. He contends that yes, Trump is destroying checks and balances and dismantling our constitutional order, but that we should be less worried since he was classy and charismatic to Maher for a moment.

Remember when Dennis Rodman met Kim Jong-Un in North Korea, and when he talked about the visit on George Stephanopoulos’s show, he was GUSHING about how nice he was? Remember when everyone else was trying to remind Rodman that Kim Jong-Un was a vicious tyrant and killer, and Rodman was insisting that wasn’t the Kim Jong-Un he talked to?

Maher’s doing the same thing, and he’s doing it because Trump mustered two hours worth of civility. Reporters have a HUGE tendency to do this same thing – defer to their personal experience of being treated with kindness and class by a public figure instead of trying to truly capture the overall scope and consequence of who they are to everyone else. The truth is, the Trump that took Maher’s ribbing in stride is the same Trump that wants to deport US citizens for the crime of expressing an unwelcome thought. And he talked about Trump in a way that downplayed the seriousness of what’s happening – because Trump was nice to HIM.

Danny Masterson was incredibly nice and classy to me when I met him – but he’s still the same Danny Masterson that got convicted for raping two women, so it hardly means anything.

Garrett Gravley

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I just forwarded your piece to Freda Payne. I’ll let you know if she responds.

Rob Frankel