We've Tried Nothing and We're All Out of Ideas
April 18, 2025·20 comments·In Brief
The current administration is solving the immigration crisis by ignoring the Constitution and court orders rather than doing the harder work of legislative action. It's the same learned helplessness that defined Biden's approach, just pointed in the opposite direction. What happens when leaders choose what's easiest over what's legal?
- The administration deported a man to a country a court explicitly forbade. Kilmer Abrego Garcia had valid legal protection from El Salvador. He was sent to a terrorism prison there anyway. There is no constitutional defense for this action.
- The defense being offered doesn't actually address the action taken. Vice President Vance argues Garcia probably had due process for deportation generally, not whether the administration had the right to ignore a specific court order. This rhetorical sleight sidesteps the actual constitutional violation.
- The real argument being made is that due process slows things down too much. Vance contends that the scale of the immigration problem makes constitutional requirements like hearings impractical. This treats legal constraints as obstacles to overcome rather than limits to respect.
- Voting for something doesn't authorize ignoring constitutional limits on how to achieve it. The administration is defending extreme policies by saying "America voted for this," equating election results with permission to bypass the Constitution. This equation has no historical parallel in modern politics.
- The alternative requires actual work, not executive shortcuts. The administration could pass legislation, fund immigration courts, and establish clear due process standards. Instead, it's choosing the appearance of bold action while abandoning the institutions that make constitutional governance possible.
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