#ShareTheirStories, June 2025 Edition

This is a project that FAR has started to share the stories of immigrants who are targeted by the US administration. It is our belief that when people are recognized as human beings, it is harder to dehumanize them and to take away their civil rights. We are facing a devastating situation where in the United States people are being “disappeared” without any recourse to the legal system. The viciousness of what is happening is growing. Some of those arrested have been released but it is a small drop in the bucket of the flood of arrestees, most not even receiving a day in court and some caught in legal mazes that show no sign of ending.  

Take Mahmoud Khalil, whom we have already discussed.  He was arrested in March due to his outspoken Pro-Palestinian views. In May, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz in New Jersey ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio likely violated the Constitution when he stripped Mahmoud Khalil of his green card and ordered him deported. Even so the Judge declined to release him because he has not proven “irreparable harm” caused by his detention. I think an elementary school child can even understand the irreparable harm one suffers by being detained, esp. in Trump prisons that are designed for harshness. And to add to it, Khalil is a new father who only got to hold his son while in prison after a flurry of lawsuits.

Rümeysa Öztürk, also discussed on FAR previously, has been released by order of a Federal Judge.

When she arrived back in Boston, she said, “America is the greatest democracy in the world,” she said, “I have faith in the American system of justice.”

She may have more faith than I do. The government is still pursing deportation proceedings against her. Meanwhile the government has hit upon a devious scheme with a Catch 22 flavor, dehumanizing to the max. As a reminder, hundreds of men were sent to El Salvador’s prison called Central American country’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). The mantra there is that no one leaves there alive. 

Trumps’s government is moving in court to dismiss the cases of those who were sent there.

The rationale – the arrestee’s cannot appear in court because they are in El Salvador so the case cannot go forward. The courts are obliging and dismissing the cases leaving the detainees with no recourse in our legal system and thereby stuck presumably for life in CECOT. In like manner, Trump’s government has moved to dismiss the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

Just to review: More than 50% of the people sent there have no criminal record here in the US. In Abrego’s case, the government even admitted that he was deported in error.

One of the cases already dismissed is that of Andry José Hernández Romero. He is a young gay makeup artist who sought asylum because of fear of persecution in Venezuela. He is also one of the main plaintiffs in a class action suit against the use of the Alien Enemies Act for such deportations.

Romero’s lawyer said in a statement, “DHS is doing everything it can to erase the fact that Andry came to the United States seeking asylum and he was denied due process as required by our Constitution. The idea that the government can disappear you because of your tattoos, and never give you a day in court, should send a chill down the spine of every American.”

Andry José Hernández Romero just turned 32 in prison.

Amnesty International is sponsoring a drive to release him.  You can access their page here to send a letter to Secretary Noem as well as make donations. 

All of this is revealing the weaknesses of the American system, most specifically the legal system which doesn’t seem to know how to respond. Even though the Supreme Court ordered (in a roundabout way) Abrego’s return to the US, the administration has not acted, in fact they have turned even more belligerent. The Court ruled on April 10^th, almost 2 months ago.  And even though Khalil has not been convicted of any crimes other than speaking out which is protected by 1^st Amendment, he has not been freed. 

I am not sure our legal system is salvageable.  It was created by white men to uphold the privilege of property-owning men [read white men] and to support business rights over civil rights. That is exactly what the Supreme Court does for the most part, in fact has done throughout American history.

• Think of the long road of legal wrangling over slavery. The Dred Scott decision in 1857 ruled that “Americans of African descent,” were not American citizens. It also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. The 13^th and 14^th amendments to the constitution nullified these rulings.  The 14^th amendment deals with birthright citizenship, a right that is up for debate yet again (history on a loop). Clearly the Supreme Court does not have a good record on this.

• Think of the rights of Native Americans. There have been some wins for the Native population but the constant pressure against them has been substantial and to their detriment.  Even when they have won, their rights have not been protected.  The Court did rule in 1832 that the Cherokee were a “distinct, independent political community.” A win for them. But Andrew Jackson was president at the time, and he ignored the ruling saying, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” He forced the Cherokee off their lands in what became known as the Trail of Tears.

I can almost hear Trump saying, “John Roberts has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” What trails of tears are being forged today?

Even today, it is the Native people who have been standing up to big oil firms to stop polluting pipelines and to advocate for other environmental protections. They often lose

• Think of the rights of women where our rights have been rolled back to the point where basic health care is no longer guaranteed. Even the “crime” of a miscarriage can bring prosecution. And for the people who brought us the Dobbs decision there have been no consequences. In fact, the people who put the wheels in motion for that decision have gained even more power in the interim, emboldening them to take these frightening powers ever further.

Stripping of rights from slavery to Native American rights to those of women are woven of the same cloth, patriarchy.

Patriarchy has the goal of controlling women’s reproductive capabilities. Power and control are the buzzwords. Patriarchy has had thousands of years to hone its techniques. Each time it hasn’t been stopped, it grows stronger and becomes a more deeply rooted part of our culture.  I think of Gilead in The HandMaiden’s Tale. The greeting used is “Under His Eye.” How apt is that? Once the eye of patriarchy turns in one’s direction, it is devastatingly hard to shake it. 

I close with the recent words of Khalil: “It is hard to describe the humiliation and pain of seeing mugshot-style images of myself circulated from the highest levels of the U.S. government—accompanied by inflammatory language, grotesque and false accusations, and open celebration of my deportation,” Khalil said in the declaration. “These were not just attacks on my character; they were efforts to erase my humanity.”

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: FAR isn’t designed for breaking news but as FAR-fate would have it, as this post was being prepared for posting, the news broke that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the US. It appears the administration has some nastiness planned and will try to hang some indictments around his neck but at least for this moment, this is a victory. His lawyer issued a statement: “The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him. This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after.”