Tim Miller takes on the shocking allegations of abuse contained in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s new lawsuit against the Trump administration. The disturbing claims include torture, severe beatings, and psychological abuse. Has Trump’s administration knowingly sent innocent people into unimaginable conditions? What does this say about America’s moral culpability?
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I’m concerned they are not Gou going to end with immigrants…. A 15X increase in DHS / ICE funding will give the President his own secret police to start asking for papers from US Citizens and start locking up his detractors will no due process. Even if this is a small percentage it is scary as hell.
Tim, I hope you are enjoying the HELL out of your vacation. I held off on watching this for a few days because I knew how hard it would be just to watch you have to talk about it, let alone be the one to do it. I wish I had some sort of profound comment on the content of your piece, but there truly are no words. They say broken hearts can be mended, but I wonder if our atrocities are already too great.
The really horrible thing to me - is that by the time we get a decent people back into power of the government most of these men in the El Salvador prison will not be alive.
Or at a minimum psychologically damaged for life. And the characters Steven Miller, K. Noem etc will find some way to slither back under their rocks and never have to pay for their crimes against humanity.
Same. Same, same same. Evidently we are too stupid to pick up what the Germans so carefully laid down, so we're going to have to calibrate OUR response for, like, whatever's exponentially dumber than Donald Trump. My head hurts already.
Two points I would like to make.
1. My uncle was a P.O.W during the Second World War. He was a navigator on a bomber and shot down over Germany. His stories related to me were nothing compared to this horror. He told me he was treated well because he was an officer.
2. I do not have any expectation that any of these people, especially Miller (who I believe is a special type of sadist), They will stupidly follow the Trump - Roy Cohen playbook by amiditting nothing and go on offense.
<3 to you and your uncle, from the granddaughter of a tailgunner in one of those bombers.
Re: Miller, he is legit insane cannibal serial killer level of deranged, psychotic, whatever. Like, I would file him with Mengele. He is the baddest of bad news and should be confined (kept separate from other patients) and evaluated, like yesterday.
I thought the constitution banned cruel and unusual punishment
Re : verification -- if Bukele says that no one walks out , that seems to support this if not confirm it .
I'm with you, Tim. 100%.
If we listen carefully to Trump, Vance, Noem, Homan, Vought and the rest they see concentration camps in the future for many of us. In every state, multiple camps in some places. Soon we’ll have a camp system that matches and exceeds the size of Hitler’s.
The testimony veracity and/or falsity cannot be remain hidden. In fact some is easy to test right away.
Right now the Trump Administration is counter programming with video supplied by El Salvador that shows Garcia in a spacious prison cell with normal clothing, some freedom of movement. Looks like a minimum security prison in the States ....I'm sure that was manufactured at the end of his captivity there
Sarah, Sam, Andrew and Jonathan, Enjoyed the discussion. Thank you for your reporting, commentary and analysis. No complaints on your viewpoints they were all based on your experience and knowledge. I have a few thoughts. I believe the Republicans, circa Trump, have learned to exploit the worst kept secret in America. That is, we are basically self centered, gullible and stupid. This axiom is Trump's Einstein moment. It gives him total control of the narrative so he can lie with impunity, fabricate like Da Vinci and escape the law like Houdini. He has a masters degree and he tutored the Republican Party. To their credit they are overachievers. Absent a financial crisis with high unemployment, high interest rates and inflation or a massive rebellion, the American people will mostly accept their lot in life but continue to blame everyone else but themselves. I bet that there is a high percentage of Americans who think ICE is the stuff they pour their bourbon over and they can always use more ice. Never, and I mean never, did I ever think I would hope America fails. But we may have to, to sum degree, in order to get through this nightmare.
I have mainly on social reasons voted D most of the time but I like you Sara believe in fiscal responsibility. I am one of those people who have never paid interest on a credit card - you pay it in full every month or you don;t buy. The R's are so good at lying and messaging I have no doubt the medicaid cuts and rise in debt will be blamed on dems and the dems will be so feckless they will allow that narrative to take. Something has to happen about how dems message. They need to understand going out on TV once and making the case and then never discussing it again WILL NOT WORK. Dems need to be out now every day every hour making some case educating in some way what the republicans have done. Every time a hospital closes it needs to be all over - How can you teach them to fight but right now - while I hate every republican and will not vote for them - the contempt I have for the fecklessness of the Democratic Party is immeasurable.
as much as people lament the decline of traditional media getting on the "local"news whether that's a large city or a rural state is still a great source of discussion generation with an important slice of the electorate that stills see's a little of that everyday
Tim, you repeatedly said the detainees deported to CECOT incarceration are being submitted to "torture without due process" and that they have been "wrongly kidnapped and tortured."
I want to make clear that while there is such a thing as due process for detention/incarceration and/or deportation for crimes for which one is tried and convicted, there is no such thing as being "rightfully kidnapped and tortured" or to be subject to torture subsequent to due process.
Torture is a crime against humanity. It is always criminal. So is kidnapping. Kidnapping is not an arrest, it's an abduction. These actions are never justified under any circumstances. As far as I'm concerned, George W. Bush and certain members of his administration should have been charged and tried for their many crimes - including and especially torture - at Guantanamo, and other black sites in the regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. It worries me that when this Trump era nightmare is finally over - and it will be - that the perpetrators of these crimes now being committed will not be held to account, that the political will will be absent and they will get away with it, and thereby the US de facto endorses these types of crimes. Because you can't have it both ways; you can not claim to be a country of laws, a society of morality that upholds the principles of human rights and dignity and yet permit the government to engage in these types of criminal activities.
I would love to see an ICE raid to Mar-a-Lago
Has anyone looked into whether trump, trump org, Miller, Bombi, etc. Have hired and/still keep workers in the similar immigration status as those they sent to El Salavador?
If so, shouldn't that make a bigger news?
we know form trump 1 that Mal employed undocumented workers
So fucking disgusting. I am seething with anger over this. These are crimes against humanity and they have to be held accountable in international courts.
Tim - Crying again. I can’t bear the thought, especially of Andry, in El Salvadore. Every time I hear more it makes me detest the people responsible, especially those in leadership. May DT, CN, MR and all the agents responsible experience all these physical and mental atrocities on judgement day. Anyone who voted for this regime should be made to watch this and hopefully “do their own research,” but like real as in watching all your videos and actually reading the Bulwark. 😡
where beans?
I'm more and more bothered by this question of if they were gang members or not.
There's this family I know. Four brothers, born in Lebanon but they all came to America at around 12-13 and lived with their uncle. I think the boys came on a tourist visa they overstayed, but other than that and like traffic tickets, their criminal records are clean. The oldest, E.. was pressured into joining a militia in the Lebanon Civil War and his parents sent him here to get away from that, the others came over around the age the militias started recruiting.
And I think about E. a lot when I hear people talk about MS13 and Tren de Aragua. Because you can make the babiest of baby steps into that world when you're fourteen, fifteen, even younger; does that mean there's no hope for them? Or maybe they spend years in the gang because there's no way out. E.'s now a chiropractor and a citizen after marrying an American, for what it matters.
It bothers me when we write someone off because of their association. Fair punishment for their crimes is one thing. (Which does not include torture like Kilmar's alleging, if it has to be said....) Deportation with due process because they don't have legal status? I'm all for reforming the system and giving people a path toward legal status, but until we get there I can't particularly object to that either.
But this brutalization and dehumanization because we think someone's part of a bad group? Pardon my French, but: fuck that.
It's not only the innocent that shouldn't be subjected to this. No one deserves to be treated as Mr. Garcia describes his experiences in the court documents. We don't torture people. No behavior justifies what this man has endured.
Two points:
1) saying you don't know if he's been involved in child trafficking or not (he's not) and bringing up these false charges as an option that sounds equally weighted by the option that he's innocent gives strength to this false narrative of criminal behavior that the administration uses to justify their actions (side note: there is no justification for violating international law)
2) Let's avoid saying that he "could be making this up". Most likely he is is not. These are legal documents for a case brought by a REAL lawyer. Not a Trump TV attorney. These suits don't get filed unless the attorney thinks that these allegations are real and that there's a good chance they will win. Unless you've talking about the Trump lawyers, this how it works.
Tim emphasized that the prisoners at CECOT have been denied due process to determine whether they deserve this horrible treatment.
Tim missed making the point that even if they had been convicted, or if future immigrant-prisoners are convicted of crimes, this abuse violates US law and the Geneva Conventions. Even in places where capital punishment remains legal, the guards are not supposed to subject the prisoners to torture first.
A moral society refrains from torture, partly out of respect for humans, even those convicted of crimes. But as importantly, we refrain lest we turn ourselves into monsters.
Thanks for sharing Andre's name. I am so concerned for this vulnerable young man. I am so thankful you keep us reminded about him. He must be returned to safety.
What do we know about the makeup artist/hair stylist who was illegally deported? What efforts are being made to bring him back to the U.S.? I am so worried about him.
It is so wrong.
Yeah if someone wants to get rid of their wife who is foreign born without having to pay alimony, there's now an option.
Horrifying but true . this person did NOT call ICE on his wife , but this is a reminder
https://youtu.be/SrWQgfPzUXg?si=edPi1RsHX8-skQVQ
Thanks for this. Thanks for taking time ahead of your trip to speak against the inhumanity & cruelty being forced on probably many innocent people. (Hurricane-proof Alligator Alcatraz, like a thing in a raunchy sitcom on trash tv but maniacal and real, sprung a bad leak already.)
This is not America, we need to fight against this cruelty and take our democracy and decency back. Hearbreaking!
Yes!
All of this tracks for me - I spent almost 4 years in federal prison for marijuana in the 1990's, and there were multiple times when they had us in shackles and cuffs for over 6 hours 'waiting on transportation' - 80 to 120 guys, 1 toilet, bench seats for maybe 50 max with the rest standing. ICE outlook, with the video that they have themselves released, and what we know about CECOT all screams - well, torture prison.
And the other people are all still there.
I hate to say this but people who don't have real charges to be brought back and charged for are not coming back. Trump and his backers have intentionally sunk the US to an unbelievable level of evil. We have to get over our unbelief and act while we still can.
I don't know who needs to hear this or what good it does, but I need to get it out anyway.
The cruelty is the point.
And no I don't just mean in the sense that they are purposefully inflicting cruelty because they are sick sadists that can't get a boner without someone suffering pointlessly, although that's probably true too of at least some of them. Rather, I mean in the sense that the cruelty is a calculated part of their strategy for how to bring their vision of America into reality and in a permanent way.
They are solving two problems with this wanton cruelty.
The first is that they understand well that sooner or later Democrats are going to regain power and in any case the tide of anti-immigration sentiment will subside and the economic benefits of immigration, if nothing else, will cause some future administration to want to swing the doors of America back open. Foreseeing this, and understanding that any executive order can be undone and any law repealed, they have done something which cannot so easily be undone: they have tortured innocent people, as many as they can possibly grab off the streets with masked goons, and they have done it completely arbitrarily and wantonly. 75 year olds who were in the country for 60 years are dropping dead in custody; women are torn away from husbands and infants, kids with cancer are sent off to die, and scientists doing critical research are sent back to totalitarian regimes they publicly opposed. The message is clear: it doesn't matter if you were ever welcomed here; it doesn't matter if you were hard-working, productive, and law abiding in every way; it doesn't matter if you have family here that depend on you; if you were not born on American soil to American citizen parents, you could be snatched off the streets and sent to be tortured to death at any time.
That is a message that future administrations or sessions of congress cannot easily repeal. That is going to last for generations, and it will more effectively shut America's doors than any normal, humane immigration/border control policy ever could. They understood that the dilemma they faced was that millions of people WANT to come to America, because millions of people live in places where life is harder. So that is the problem they have sought to solve.
The second problem they are solving with this is that if you want to take totalitarian control over a large, wealthy country with well established democratic institutions, you need a hell of a lot of goons willing to commit lawless atrocities on your say-so, and those kinds of people tend to be petty psychopaths rotting in prison with rap sheets a mile long; disorganized, undisciplined, generally stupid; just not something you can build a massive secret police force out of. However, anyone who's read Ordinary Men (https://www.amazon.ca/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-solution/dp/0060995068) understands that you don't need these kinds of bottom-feeder petty psychopaths to willingly commit atrocities on your behalf. You can take ordinary law enforcement officers, and with patience, appeals to duty and patriotism, and steadily escalating exposure to atrocious situations, turn them into disciplined, organized, and professional psychopaths.
This giant expansion of ICE, combined with the horrific treatment of innocent people in the name of protecting the fatherland from impure outsiders that are corrupting it, is how the Trump administration (mainly Stephen Miller I suspect) is creating their own domestic political enforcement squad that is being trained to commit atrocities on whoever they are told is the enemy. They are encouraged to hide their identities, refuse to show any kind of legal documents, badge, or uniform, and to escalate to violence as a first resort. They are being shown that anyone who stands in their way can be beaten, and then arrested for 'obstruction of justice', and that any ICE officers who do that will be rewarded, not reprimanded. This has worked in the past, and it will work again if it is not stopped immediately.
The cruelty is not just sadism for sadism's sake. It's a calculated strategy. It should be opposed for goodness' sake, even if it weren't also a calculated strategy, but I think it's not enough to merely oppose it for goodness' sake. It also needs to be understood as the strategy that it is, and the opposition strategy needs to be equally carefully crafted and implemented with equal energy and discipline.
I got an email from Social Security applauding the “Big, Beautiful, Bill “ at 7:08pm eastern tonight. I don’t see any way to include a screenshot, but DM me if you want to see it. I wish I could tell them how revolting I think this bill and this administration are.
I don’t even know how to process that the American government is doing this in 2025.
When I was working in the border with families who had been sent into appalling conditions in the “remain in Mexico” program, I was contacted by a young woman. She was in a desolate and cold shelter in Nuevo Laredo, along with her one year-old baby and five year-old daughter. She had legally attempted to cross the border, requesting asylum and had been sent back into Mexico, barely escaping kidnapping as soon as she and other more unlucky migrants cross the bridge. She needed to find work so that she could feed her children and herself, and managed to locate a taco store where they allowed her to bring her children. One night as she was returning with her children back to the shelter a car pulled up, and she and her children were kidnapped, thrown into the back of the car. Three men drove them to a house where she was taken to a bedroom and tied to a bed and her five year-old daughter tied to a chair at the foot of that bed. For three days, she was serially raped continuously And told that if she resisted or fought back they would rape her daughter.At one point she begged for mercy and asked the men why they were doing this to her. They said this: “we hate immigrants, especially from Central America. We will torture every Central American woman who comes over here the way we are torturing you until the word gets back and you stop coming“. This is precisely what the United States is doing to brown people in this country.
Make no mistake…these are the new Nazis. Their goal: to make the U.S. entirely white and radically “christian”. This is chapter one.
If there is anyone out there who does not join you, Tim, in your unquenchable rage, shame on them. Shame on this disgusting government. As for proof, we’ve already seen footage of shaven-headed, shackled men on their knees being hit, haven’t we? How much worse must it be when there isn’t a camera rolling? Wouldn’t any normal administration send inspectors and offer us all proof that these abducted people are being treated well, and not just some obviously faked PR with a cosplaying Barbie doll in attendance? Doesn’t it pretty much tell us everything that they can’t even be bothered to prove that conditions are not as Abrego Carcia alleges?
We thought our internment of Japanese American families during WWII was a moral stain on our history. No time will have come close to the shame inflicted on our nation by this fascist regime.
Yes, as you say Tim, deeply shameful and it must be rectified. I hope he can prove his case. These are international crimes against humanity. Trump and his sadistic posse need to be held accountable. We need to get all those innocent people out of there.
For weeks I was thinking about Kilmar, about Andry, and the other men sent to CECOT, day after day. It was my last thought at night, the first in the morning, and throughout the day. Doing something simple like enjoying the sun and trees and deer in my back yard, I'd think of them unable to enjoy such simple things. Eating a nice meal, taking a shower, sleeping on a mattress, and not being afraid that someone at any moment might beat me -- all things that made me think of them and those who love them. For weeks I worked on a letter to the editor that I finally managed to send to the Washington Post and to my surprise, they improved it and published it. I said, "That they were sent to this prison, which El Salvador’s president proudly describes as some sort of inescapable black hole, is nothing short of an atrocity." It got the constant rage somewhat out of my system, but now what?
This morning I woke thinking about what it's like to miss someone you deeply love, and I realized that, as Tim said, to Trump and, God help us, to his avid supporters, immigrants are not human. They don't think of them as people who love their children, spouse, nature, pets, like we ourselves do. I am so ashamed of what this country is becoming. But so proud of Tim and the others on the Bulwark, and the protestors who march with walkers and canes and oxygen compressors and face up to masked thugs who try to stop them.
This government would happily treat the children, spouse, nature and pets the same way. How can this possibly happen in a once-sophisticated country?
I hope I live to see the day when Trump, Noem, Miller, and pretty much all of the Trump officials connected with this will face justice for this. Of course, if that should happen -- which is certainly not assured even after Trump is out of power -- they will claim they didn't know about the abuses, and they will be able to drag it through the courts until they all die of old age. It will be very hard to prove what Garcia says because all of the potential witnesses will also be impugned as criminals. Would there be a prison guard who would attest to it? Hard to imagine.
Maybe the most we can hope for is for future generations to look at this time in horror and wonder how it could possibly have happened.
I want Krsiti an Miller in CECOT^ since Hell is too good for them
Dying of old age is too good for Trump.
Why can't El Salvador be more like our MOST sacrosanct ally? More like the MOST moral army? More like the ONLY democracy in the Middle East?
https://x.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1940891365396844890
Come on guys ... nothing? Crickets?
Someone must have researched the path trump took to bankrupt his casinos, step by crazy step. It could be that we would then observe the equivalent moves that he is now pursuing to bankrupt (destroy) the United States.
It may come down to simply spending way more money than is coming in; making sure no one could prevent his theft from the “business” (or country), and planning to stiff all bond holders. And stiff all or most contractors (and states). He takes off with the loot, leaving a shell of the former United States.
The late Jacob Bronowski described war as “organized theft”. Trump is at war with these United States, and we are being taken to the cleaners and we don’t even know our pants are off. (I stole that last line).
Thank you for your humanity Tim, and yes for continuing to keep this young man, the hair dresser, and Kilmar in front of us.
Humanity for some, not for all.
I am appalled for anyone in that gulag, but I am ill thinking about Andre- who seems to be a sweet soul who did everything right to try to come to America and got grabbed to meet some stupid quota. This is sick. 💔
And it can’t just be André, can it, who’s a sweet soul and did everything right; he can’t be the only gay man who must be suffering worse humiliation and degradation than any non-gay man. Hooray for Tim for keeping him in the forefront of the thoughts of all decent people, André is a representative, surely, of others.
Oh, Laura, you ain't seen anything yet.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
Thank you for keeping this young man front and center. It’s sickening to see how low this administration can go. I too am filled with unquenchable rage.
Me too.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
Where's the "Faith" community? Even is you're conservative and say we need internal enforcement to curb further "illegal" immigration through deterrence there really isn't any need for the brutality of all this
Brutality seems to be one of the prerequisites for this inhumane horror-show administration.
Where are our judges? These actions are against the law and humanity.
Where are our judges??? Taken over already, and in grovelling service to the self-appointed ‘king’. Kings sometimes get beheaded, though….
For that matter, where are our legacy news outlets? I haven't heard a peep about Abrego Garcia on the TV news since he was returned. I suppose they could argue that they can't report these allegations as fact without confirmation. But they sure don't seem too worried about facts when they quote whatever lies come out of Trump's mouth.
Biden destroyed law and humanity for the benefit of Israel.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
If any of this is true, the best thing that can happen is for his lawsuit to go forward. The public airing of what we have subjected these people to might, if the gods be willing, begin to reshape some folks' thinking. Folks who didn't honestly understand what they were voting for. They'll understand it now. What will they do next? Will some of them have the strength of conscience to abandon Magaville? My bet, many will not. Those who enjoy Alligatraz. But I know many will be stomach-turned enough to say "FFS. Enough. This is enough."
They won’t deport them—they’ll rent them out.
Slavery 2.0 is here: immigrant detention, forced labor, no rights, no pay.
They just changed the branding.
We see the camps. We see the crops.
Don’t say we didn’t know.
The 13th amendment permits involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. I'm sure Stephen Miller knows this.
And I’m sure that they can Trump up a lot of charges based on false evidence.
Trump said that....that Farmers and "Owners" could sign up to vouch for people and take responsibility for them at their work places. Under substantial supervision and restrictions to their movement.
I feel like that’s a temporary option. When I don’t really trust anything that Trump says.
Oh Tim, thank you for speaking about this horrific abuse, and keeping it on our radar. Every day, I think about the Venezuelans that our government sent to that hellhole. I didn't even know about the Salvadorans. The torture is horrific, and yet maga seems to thrill to it. This has been a very dark day.
Thank you Tim. Abu Graib-like. Horrible. A crime.
You think this is bad? You thought Abu Ghraib was bad?
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
Regardless of whether his allegations are exaggerated or untrue, he needs to sue anyway because he was wrongfully detained on this end and sent to El Salvador without due process.
Thank you for continuing to highlight this ongoing horror and the larger issues re migrants and ICE, Tim.
I am in a rage too Tim! It's sickens me what they are doing to people, even those that may have been criminals. No one deserves this kind of treatment!
Since cruelty is the point, I believe Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Meanwhile far right. white " Christian " nationalists pray over Trump like he's the Messiah. Pure evil and it must be stopped immediately.
Strong agree.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
It is an administration of psychopaths.
There are prisons in this country. There was never any reason for him or any other immigrant to be sent out of the country to a prison. It was inhumane.
I'm right there with you, Tim. I actually expected that Kilmar Abrego Garcia would have something similar to report, just based on Noem's and others visits, plus what Bukele himself said. I firmly believe that every single one of them should be returned to the US and, upon due process confirmation of their treatment, should be granted citizenship and restitution (including therapy) for cruel and unusual punishment in addition to the administration's denial of due process. I sincerely hope Andry Hernandez Romero is still alive and able to be returned home.
Thank you for shining a light on this grotesque inhumane treatment of immigrants by the regime currently in charge. These bag of dicks won't be in power forever. Maybe the O-turd will escape accountability, but Miller, Homan, Voght, Vance, Noem, Rubio, Bondi are complicit in this lawless, cruel policy. They're going down.
A. They're not going down.
B. They're amateurs.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
Rage is exactly what I feel as well
And a good portion of America is actually cheering this on. We are a nation of psychopaths.
This is the first morning I've woken up feeling depressed enough by our situation that I had trouble doing things. I just wanted to sit and stare.
(By the way: I highly recommend taking some time to just sit and stare. We all need a little more of the clarity that can come from that.)
Ditto
We didn't quite make it to six months. But pretty close! I'm not gonna fall apart though. Hang in there.
These are HUMAN BEINGS. I don’t care if they are criminals. Humans shouldn’t treat other humans like this.
We are taking people without due process and sending them to lawless, gray areas for torture and permanent detention... some of us said in 2002 with Guantanimo and Abu Ghraib. Yes, it's horrific, barbaric, and morally reprehensible, and the Republican Party has supported it for decades. Oh, you might say, but that was war, and it's OK to ignore civil rights during war. No, it's not, that's why we had the Geneva Convention. When you start believing it's OK to act lawlessly in war, then everything becomes a war--immigrant "invasions," the "enemy within." Once more, Bush sowed the seeds for Trump. The Republicans have been moving towards this for 50 years.
Dems better not run on a message of "forget and forgive to heal the nation" in 2026/28. No. We need the next administration to hold these criminals - Homan, Noem, Hegseth, Trump - accountable. Criminally accountable.
What have we become?
Sharon, we are so much worse than this.
Will we ever see a current photo of Abrego-Garcia's hand tattoos? It would be nice to finally put Trump's lie about "MS-13" appearing on his knuckles.
SherpieGate II: https://bsky.app/profile/opsan.bsky.social/post/3lo2sfyn3d22v
(I never fixed the sixth finger .. apologies).
Kidnapped and sent to be tortured in a concentration camp, that "whoever enters here doesn't leave." Four months in, and we are already exterminating people.
Full blown Nazis folks. We are dealing with FULL BLOWN NAZIS.
They already have newly furnished Camp Auschwitz (pronounced in American English as Alligator Alcatraz) ready.
WORK SETS YOU FREE. (Arbeit macht frei)
Sure.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/appalling-allegations-of-trump-admin?r=3hh94p&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=131881664
I want to see the contract DJT has with Bukake, IF there is one. I want to know WHAT Noem, Holman, Stephen Miller know/knew about that treatment and how they try to dispute knowledge, which they will. And I want to know the statute of limitation for Noem & co.
Dearheart Tim, I wish you as restful a break as possible. Thank you for the incredibly important work that you are doing. Truly appreciate it.
Fucking barbarians running this country right now. I asked my evangelical cousin a couple months ago if she would be okay with them putting people in camps and she was offended that I dare ask that of a Christian cause of course that would be wrong and bad.
I'm sure she carefully "doesn't know" what's happening or maybe God told her it's all part of His plan even though it seems cruel to our weak human minds. Fuck these people.
Hopefully Garcia's court case and others like him will receive maximum publicity.
So far mainstream news outlets seem to be ignoring it. I would think the court filing would get some air play. Too busy with the Diddy trial, apparently.
Thank you so much for reporting on this, it’s so important. I haven’t cried since election night but this made me cry. It’s so horrific—how can any person treat another human this way?
Has there been any progress in Andry’s legal case?! We heard a lot about Mr. Abrego but very little about Andry and the others. How are we going to get them back?! I am also increasingly concerned that Andry might not be alive. This is terrible, sickening, and evil. I just can’t believe America did this!
Oh Tim, it’s so fucking awful. The pain in your voice hit me hard. Thank you for being able to speak articulately through this unimaginable horror. I find my unquenchable rage renders me speechless sometimes.
I think of Andry every fucking day. 🌈 💜
I take the challenge to speak to the exiled ones in my life. I refuse to let them close their eyes to this depravity.
I love your response, it’s so true. I wish I could force my parents to watch this—they support Trump and are low information voters and put their heads in the sand anytime I try to bring what’s going on up. My dad does prison ministry! And he still won’t speak up and say this is wrong!
Most low information voters behave like that by choice. Until it hits them or someone they know personally. Then magically most of them turn into the highest propensity voters. They know where to get the news from. They just don't care.
Thank you for the report, Tim. Enjoy your vacation. You deserve it and need it!!! And when you want to ignore that, what will get to you is that your daughter and husband need it! Sending much love and gratitude. :)))
thanks Tim, for this info. I just came back from a road trip to Canada to celebrate Canada day with some old friends. They can't believe what is happening here. I found myself going on and on in screeching tones about the immigration stuff until I realized I was spoiling everyones good time. It was so weird. I felt like I was in a dystopian novel while looking at all the waving Canadian flags. It felt like I had escaped to freedom.
It all still has a air of unreality...to everyone. So this info is soooo important to have. The sadism is unimaginable..WTF?????
I felt the same feeling during a brief trip to Germany to visit my dying aunt and reconnect with my cousins. I felt a strong sense of ease. I didn’t feel any tension. Even my boyfriend noticed how different I sounded on the phone. I desperately wanted to stay but learning German in such a short time would be hard.
Powerful commentary by Tim. I've heard that Bukele has pretty much wiped out gang activity in Ell Salvador. But it seems to me the treatment of the prisoners in Cecot can't be any better than what the gangs did on the streets of San Salvador. Perhaps Bukele has recruited some of those gang members to work in his prisons.
Thank you for your humanity and for staying on this topic. It is soul crushing.
I am sharing what I just posted on the youtube presentation (I go to it so that I can help increase algorithm or whatever it's called for all The Bulwark videos.) This was my response to those on youtube who write, "I can't believe this could happen in America!" The more well-meaning the more disgusted I feel about their ignorance. Yes, my "JVL" lens. :)
"The most rudimentary high school level of American history, would have taught that there has always been the "dark, brutal" side of the American psyche. I'm horrified, but never surprised. Trump is the mirror of the hearts, minds, and willful ignorance of the Maga Cultists who voted for him. We should be hanging the flag upside down on July 4th. "
It is at times like this, with news like this, that I am even more deeply grateful to be a member of The Bulwark community!
I’ll give Kilmar Abrego Garcia the benefit of the doubt, but not ICE nor the American and Salvadoran governments.
I think he will have no problem reaching the civil court "preponderance of evidence" standard of proof. There's plenty of hearsay evidence in the world press, and surely some survivors (and maybe even former guards) of CECOT. If a few can testify, Kilmar will win.
I'm wondering a few things:
1. Can the criminal case judge take this abuse in account in sentencing? I suspect a "time served" sentence could be in store in this case.
2. Can the criminal case OR the civil case judge order a green card (or at least enter a "no deport" order) for Kilmar? I think that could be a reasonable part of being made whole for damages. Although ... would he want to stay in such an evil country?
3. What about International Criminal Court charges against these monsters? I know USA doesn't recognize ICC authority, but a lot of other countries do. It would be very funny if Trump and his top thugs are barred from (or better yet, arrested upon) entering those countries.
I want to see the whole evil lot brought to the Hague. This is beyond unacceptable.
I appreciate your commentary on this and your righteous anger, Tim.
Yes, I mentioned ICC just now in another subcomment.
Tim, Extremely well said! Thank you for bringing us this story. When it comes to credibility, I'll take Garcia any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Trump told 30,000 lies in his first term and so far this term he and his administration have told another 30,000. This is beyond evil. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but at this moment, I'm ashamed to be an American.
The torture recounted by Garcia in Cecot is akin to the torture my Uncle wrote about his detention in a Japanese prison camp during WWII.
This is the Rorschach test you use with family and friends. If they aren’t disgusted/horrified you have all the info you need on what kind of relationship if any you have with them.
Thank you Tim. This is not ok. Ugh.
There must be tribunals after this regime leaves office, or is deposed. Tribunals that ignore the presidential pardons that Trump will surely issue to these maggots. From top to fucking bottom. I’m looking at your laminated face Kristi, and all the masked ICE flunkies.
If the Supreme Court doesn’t like it, Roberts, Alito, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Thomas can get off their fat asses, and protest.
If the next Democratic presidential candidate babbles about forgiving and forgetting, I will be very displeased. Vengeance must be satisfied against these base villains.
I've been thinking about this, and I strongly disagree. I think the next Democratic president should give Congress an ultimatum: either 1) enact a truth and reconciliation process that will pardon Trump cronies who will give detailed public confessions about the offenses of the Trump regime; or 2) prosecute them to the full extent of the law, especially Trump himself. Either way, the important thing here is not revenge, but creating a record of everything that happened in order to preemptively undermine any revisionist histories that MAGA partisans might concoct. We must not allow a "lost cause" mythology to be created.
The Trump administration brags about the conditions.
We new this, right? This is how they role...cruelty is the point.
We absolutely did!
My question is' where did 47 get the money to pay & sign a contract with Bukele for detaining American deportees??
From our piggybank.
Thank you Tim. As far as I can see, no other news organization is remotely covering this national shame. I don't know how you keep your rage in check while delivering this information. I would not be able to.
Tim, please disconnect from this nightmare, at least for a while, and enjoy your time with your family. You deserve it and they deserve you. Love you Tim
Same, Tim. Same.
"Unquenchable rage." I have no capacity to adequately express how I feel about what we're doing, sending people to foreign prisons like CECOT. I'm grateful, Tim, that you do.
Literally just commented the same sentiment. Grateful for the Bulwark.
Please be careful, Tim. Stay safe, continue to speak out, continue to speak truth. It is an ugly world we live in and I want you and your family to stay safe!
I don’t know what will happen to Trump but if history repeats itself a lot of this admin will be indicted. I normally wouldn’t celebrate another persons downfall but I will make an exception in this case.
They will be pardoned by that dirtbag. The pardons must be ignored. The Supreme Court can suck it!!
If they last the whole term. If he fires them he’ll turn and won’t care. Very few lasted 4 years last time. They are very loyal with no moral compass, so we’ll see.
There should be outrage from all religious groups in this country. Also, it’s time to boycott anything that comes from El Salvador.
Unconscionable. It must be stopped! NOW!
The sadism, the cruelty is no longer masked or downplayed … it is front and center and lurid and perverse. Woe to the man or woman who gets off on this state-sponsored torture - this is your doing, your vote, your choice … you hold the baton, you sneer at the man soiling himself because of your treatment. You will stand in judgment in this world or the next with nothing to say, you will be dumb before God and worthy of his judgment.
I am an atheist, but I agree with you.
Hi Jenn - I (and I think God) honors human compassion and righteous zeal. These folks stand in the judgement of Jenn, too.
Thank you Tim for keeping up this coverage. Its so disgusting and appalling that our government is doing this.
No moral government inflicts this on anyone, guilty or not. Which is why we have the 8th A. I believe Kilmar's account because we all know this is what happens in places like that. Has any proof of life been provided for Andry???
I share your rage. Every day.
The day of redemption will come.
America we have lost our compass.
No one can call themselves a Christian who sits back and allows this, Alligator Alcatraz, ICE pulling children from classrooms, etc.
I’d love that, but honestly, I just don’t see it happening. I am still holding out hope, but Trump and his cronies have a pretty good track record of escaping anything close to accountability with their actions. I know for certain there is a chunk of his supporters that voted for him that will hear these details and are loving the idea that we sent people off to be tortured like this and are probably angry that Kilmar even has the ability to sue now that he’s back in the US. To me, that’s the worst part. The idea we have so many people in this country that would cheer this stuff on just makes me sad. Trump and his cabinet are examples of some of the worst people this country has in it and I don’t have a hard time imagining that at all. What worries me is I don’t know the ratio of people who still support them after everything they’ve done. I can only hope they’re in the minority and people will come to their senses after seeing just how bad these people are.
Auschwitz. It’s Alligator Auschwitz. Spread the word.
It’s horrible! It’s reprehensible!