The U.S. is in a Constitutional Crisis, and with it, Democracy

The guardrails placed around the U.S. government by the Constitution have worked, sometimes poorly, for the last 236 years. In the last 24 hours, it’s become clear that the guardrails are falling apart, and the U.S. is in a Constitutional crisis. The Trump administration lit five fires today, attacking the separation of powers and the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

White House Defies a 9-0 Supreme Court Decision

On Sunday, the White House declared it would ignore a 9-0 Supreme Court order to return illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the CERCOT prison compound in El Salvador.

The Trump administration defied the ruling, arguing that it does not have the authority to return Abrego Garcia after claiming without evidence on Saturday that he remained in El Salvador and is alive. Additionally, the White House claims that the language in the SCOTUS order, to provide “what steps, if any, Defendants have taken (and) will take, and when, to facilitate” Garcia’s return, was not a ruling to actually bring him back to the U.S.

In an Oval Office meeting with Nayib Bukele, the self-declared “world’s coolest” dictator and president of El Salvador, President Donald Trump said that his administration had no authority in the matter. Bukele added that he would not release Abrego Garcia to the U.S. or from CERCOT, calling him a criminal and terrorist.

Friday’s unanimous SCOTUS decision included three Trump appointees and conservative judges Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Clarence Thomas.

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, came to the U.S. illegally in 2011 when he was 16 years old, fleeing the El Salvadorian gang Barrio 18. He joined his brother Ceasar in Maryland, who had fled to the U.S. four years earlier, and is now a U.S. citizen.

His brother helped him secure jobs in construction. In 2019, Abrego Garcia was arrested by local police and accused of being a member of MS-13. He denied any involvement with the Mexican gang and was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He would tell an immigration judge that he was seeking political asylum, which the judge denied. He was accused by ICE of being a certified gang member of the MS-13 New York Chapter, based on information that came from a confidential informant used by county police. However, Abrego Garcia had never been to New York, and later, the informant was discredited.

In October 2019, he was denied asylum. Still, he was granted a protection order from being deported to El Salvador due to the “well-founded fear” of being a target of Barrio 18. ICE didn’t appeal the decision, and Abrego Garcia was issued a work permit and required to attend yearly check-ins with the Department of Homeland Security.

He was arrested on 12 March in Baltimore and, against court orders, deported to CERCOT in El Salvador, potentially locked up with the same gang members who were threatening him. Abrego Garcia was never convicted of any crime, is a married father of three to a U.S. citizen, and is in a metalworking union.

Turkish citizen Rumeysa Ozturk Snatched off a Massachusetts Street

On March 25, Rumeysa Ozturk was surrounded by six men dressed in black with faces covered and detained outside of her Somerville, Massachusetts apartment. She was accused of supporting Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization, and “glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans.” The government also revoked her student visa.

The Washington Post revealed that prior to her arrest, the U.S. State Department found there was no evidence of her support of Hamas or antisemitism, and questioned the Trump Administration’s request for her detention.

A review of her profile on Canary Mission found that the only pro-Palestinian activity she engaged in was co-authoring an op-ed article in the Tufts University daily newspaper. Our review found the article, which is still available, never mentions Hamas nor glorifies terrorism or the killing of Americans. The statement called for Tufts’ leadership to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and to divest from companies that support the university with ties to Israel, pointing out prior actions by the university and quoting its policies and code of conduct.

In St. Albans, Vermont, the Trump Administration argued the federal court had no jurisdiction over Ozturk, who is being held in Louisiana in defiance of a 25 March court order. During today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions warned that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was approaching a Constitutional crisis in the matter.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Declares Only the White House Dictates Foreign Policy

After today’s Oval Office meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweeted, “The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by [the President of the United States — not by a court — and no court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States. It’s that simple. End of story.”

Article II, Section 2, and Article III, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution specify that Congress must approve many aspects of foreign policy, such as tariffs, and that federal courts and the Supreme Court have jurisdiction over some foreign policy matters.

White House Bars Associated Press Access in Defiance of Court Order

On 8 April, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ruled that the White House could not retaliate against the Associated Press for refusing to use the name “Gulf of America.”

In his ruling, McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote, “Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less.”

The AP was blocked from entering the Oval Office for today’s press conference with President Trump, his El Salvadorian counterpart, and other U.S. officials.

Trump Demands FCC “Maximum Fines” and to Pull the Broadcast License for CBS

On Sunday evening, the CBS news program 60 Minutes ran two stories unfavorable to the Trump administration. The first was about the administration’s policy toward Ukraine and included President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The second focused on Trump’s ambition to annex Greenland, if force by necessary.

After the show aired, a furious Trump demanded that FCC head Brendan Carr impose “maximum fines and punishment, which is substantial, for their unlawful and illegal behavior.”

In his lengthy screed, he accused the network of election interference in 2024. Previously, Trump accused CBS of unfair editing of an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris and filed a $10 billion lawsuit. In February, the network released the unedited video with full transcripts, which revealed there were no abnormal edits or changes.

Trump then filed a $20 billion lawsuit against the network after 60 Minutes ran a story about a multiracial student band that had its concert canceled by the federal government on the grounds that it supported DEI.

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