Ezra Klein

The president of the United States is disappearing people to an El Salvadoran prison for terrorists. A prison known by its initials, Seacott. A prison built for disappearance. A prison where there is no education or remediation or recreation because it is a prison that does not intend to release its inhabitants back out into the world.

The president of the United States is disappearing people to an El Salvadoran prison for terrorists. A prison known by its initials, Seacott. A prison built for disappearance. A prison where there is no education or remediation or recreation because it is a prison that does not intend to release its inhabitants back out into the world.

It is a prison where the only way out, in the words of El Salvador's justice minister, is in a coffin. On Monday, President Trump said in the Oval Office, in front of the eye of the cameras, sitting next to El Salvador's president, that he would like to do this to U.S. citizens as well.

It is a prison where the only way out, in the words of El Salvador's justice minister, is in a coffin. On Monday, President Trump said in the Oval Office, in front of the eye of the cameras, sitting next to El Salvador's president, that he would like to do this to U.S. citizens as well.

He told El Salvador's president, President Bukele, that he would need to build five more of these prisons because America has so many people Trump wants to send to them.

He told El Salvador's president, President Bukele, that he would need to build five more of these prisons because America has so many people Trump wants to send to them.

Why do we need El Salvador's prisons? We have prisons here. But for the Trump administration, El Salvador's prisons are the answer to the problem of American law. The Trump administration holds a view that anyone they send to El Salvador is beyond the reach of American law. They've been disappeared not just from our country, but from our system.

Why do we need El Salvador's prisons? We have prisons here. But for the Trump administration, El Salvador's prisons are the answer to the problem of American law. The Trump administration holds a view that anyone they send to El Salvador is beyond the reach of American law. They've been disappeared not just from our country, but from our system.

And from any protection or process that our system affords, in our prisons, prisoners can be reached by our lawyers, by our courts, by our mercy. In El Salvador, they cannot. Names, stories. Let me tell you one of their names. one of their stories, as best we know it. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is from El Salvador. His mother, Cecilia, ran a pupusaria in San Salvador.

And from any protection or process that our system affords, in our prisons, prisoners can be reached by our lawyers, by our courts, by our mercy. In El Salvador, they cannot. Names, stories. Let me tell you one of their names. one of their stories, as best we know it. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is from El Salvador. His mother, Cecilia, ran a pupusaria in San Salvador.

A local gang, Barrio 18, began extorting the business, demanding monthly and then weekly payments. If the family didn't pay, Barrio 18 threatened to murder Kilmar's brother, Cesar, or rape their sisters. Eventually, Barrio 18 demanded Cesar join their gang, at which point the family sent Cesar to America. Then Baratine demanded the same of Kilmar, and Kilmar, at age 16, was sent to America too.

A local gang, Barrio 18, began extorting the business, demanding monthly and then weekly payments. If the family didn't pay, Barrio 18 threatened to murder Kilmar's brother, Cesar, or rape their sisters. Eventually, Barrio 18 demanded Cesar join their gang, at which point the family sent Cesar to America. Then Baratine demanded the same of Kilmar, and Kilmar, at age 16, was sent to America too.

This was around 2011. This is what we mean when we say he entered illegally. A 16-year-old fleeing the only home he's ever known, afraid for his life. Abrego Garcia's life here just seems to have been a life, not an easy one. He lived in Maryland. He worked in construction. He met a woman. Her name is Jennifer, a U.S. citizen. She had two children from a past relationship.

This was around 2011. This is what we mean when we say he entered illegally. A 16-year-old fleeing the only home he's ever known, afraid for his life. Abrego Garcia's life here just seems to have been a life, not an easy one. He lived in Maryland. He worked in construction. He met a woman. Her name is Jennifer, a U.S. citizen. She had two children from a past relationship.

One is epilepsy, the other autism. In 2019, they had a child together. That child, who's now five, is deaf in one year and also has autism. Jennifer was pregnant in 2019, on the day Abrego Garcia dropped one kid off at school, dropped the other off with a babysitter, and drove to Home Depot to try to find construction work.

One is epilepsy, the other autism. In 2019, they had a child together. That child, who's now five, is deaf in one year and also has autism. Jennifer was pregnant in 2019, on the day Abrego Garcia dropped one kid off at school, dropped the other off with a babysitter, and drove to Home Depot to try to find construction work.

He was arrested for loitering outside Home Depot, asked if he was a gang member. He said no, and he was put into ICE detention. The story gets stranger from here. About four hours after he's picked up, and that appears to be the first contact he's ever had with local police, a detective produces an allegation, citing a confidential informant, that Obrego Garcia is actually a gang member.

He was arrested for loitering outside Home Depot, asked if he was a gang member. He said no, and he was put into ICE detention. The story gets stranger from here. About four hours after he's picked up, and that appears to be the first contact he's ever had with local police, a detective produces an allegation, citing a confidential informant, that Obrego Garcia is actually a gang member.

Obrego Garcia has no criminal record, not one here, not one in El Salvador. He was accused, strangely, of being part of a gang that operates in New York, a state that he has never lived in. Whoever produced the allegation, they were never cross-examined.

Obrego Garcia has no criminal record, not one here, not one in El Salvador. He was accused, strangely, of being part of a gang that operates in New York, a state that he has never lived in. Whoever produced the allegation, they were never cross-examined.