When Rights Become Optional: The Dangerous Cost of Trading Justice for Expediency
- Humberto Rodriguez
- Apr 17
- 4 min read
In recent weeks, a flood of online debates has surfaced around the mass deportations carried out under the Trump administration's latest immigration strategy. These deportations, many executed with minimal or no due process, raise serious concerns not only about human rights but about the health of our constitutional system. As someone who has lived at the intersection of culture, politics, and family, having friends and family members that are staunch Trump supporters, I understand just how complicated and emotionally charged these conversations can be. But when we strip away the noise, one truth remains: the moment we allow rights to become negotiable, we all lose.
The Case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia: A Warning Sign
One recent and tragic example is the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legally protected Maryland resident who was ordered by a federal court not to be deported to El Salvador due to credible threats to his life. That court order was ignored. Garcia was deported anyway and is now imprisoned in El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, a facility notorious for human rights violations. This isn't just a paperwork error. It's a violation of judicial authority and due process.
CECOT has come under fire from the United Nations and multiple human rights groups for its overcrowding, lack of medical care, indefinite detentions, and the arbitrary targeting of individuals based on appearance, tattoos, or associations rather than proven criminal activity. Garcia’s deportation into this environment not only endangered his life, but also sent a chilling message: legal protections can be ignored when the government decides it's inconvenient to follow them.
Due Process Applies to Persons, Not Just Citizens
There is a persistent myth being pushed that only citizens are protected by the Constitution. That is simply false. The Supreme Court has affirmed in multiple landmark cases—Zadvydas v. Davis (2001) and Plyler v. Doe (1982)—that the Constitution protects "persons" within the United States, regardless of immigration status. That includes due process and equal protection under the law.
In Zadvydas, the Court ruled that the U.S. government could not detain a non-citizen indefinitely after a deportation order if no country would accept them, citing the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. In Plyler v. Doe, the Court struck down a Texas law that denied public education to undocumented children, affirming that they too were protected by the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. These rulings are not ideological, they are foundational, reminding us that the Constitution’s core protections were never meant to be exclusive to citizens alone.
The Slippery Slope of Convenience Over Principle
Some argue that the immigration system is too overwhelmed to guarantee due process for everyone. With over 3.5 million backlogged immigration cases according to TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse), it’s true that our system is under stress. But rather than invest in resources, like increasing the number of immigration judges, legal aid, and processing staff, we’re watching the system choose to shortcut the law altogether.
The logic goes: if we can’t keep up, let’s just skip the hard parts. But that’s not how constitutional rights work. They don’t apply only when it’s easy or affordable. In fact, they matter most when the system is strained. If we allow the government to abandon due process because it’s overwhelmed, then we’ve already accepted that principles are conditional—and that’s a precedent that threatens everyone.
How This Affects Our Communities
Mass deportations don’t just impact individuals, they have a ripple effect across entire communities. In neighborhoods across the country, especially those with high immigrant populations, fear and mistrust are becoming the norm. People are avoiding hospitals, skipping school conferences, and withdrawing from civic life because they’re afraid of drawing attention to themselves or their families.
Studies from organizations like the American Psychological Association have shown that immigration raids and deportations lead to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD among children in mixed-status families. Schools in heavily policed immigrant communities report drops in attendance and engagement, not because families don’t value education, but because they fear being torn apart at any moment.
The Role of Racial Profiling and Cultural Bias
Another disturbing trend is the way people are being labeled as "threats" or "gang-affiliated" based on things as vague as clothing, tattoos, or even the music they listen to.
This disproportionately affects Black and brown communities. What may be cultural expression in one context is criminalized in another. In El Salvador's CECOT prison, similar assumptions have led to the imprisonment of thousands without trial.
In the U.S., this mindset reinforces systemic discrimination, where certain people are treated as inherently suspicious simply because of how they look or where they come from. That’s not security, that’s scapegoating. And it sets a dangerous precedent where appearance, not evidence, becomes the basis for punishment.
The Constitutional Cost
Let’s be clear: when we allow the government to ignore a court order or sidestep due process, we’re not making the country safer, we’re unraveling the very foundation it was built on. The Constitution was designed to protect everyone from government overreach. If we let fear or convenience justify ignoring it, then we’ve lost the thing we claim to be defending. Rights don’t get turned off in times of stress, they get tested.
And right now, we’re failing that test.
A Crisis of American Identity
I used to believe in a party that claimed to defend freedom, individual rights, and law and order. But lately, I barely recognize it. When cruelty becomes policy and silence replaces accountability, we’re not preserving the soul of this country, we’re slowly losing it.
This isn’t just about immigration. It’s about our identity as a nation. Are we a country that values fairness, due process, and the rule of law? Or are we a country that bends those rules based on fear, politics, and convenience?
My Final Thought
If you’re still cheering these policies on, ask yourself this: what happens when the system turns on you? When court orders are ignored, when appearances are used as justification, when due process is dismissed as a luxury, what will protect you?
That’s the cost of letting rights become optional. And by the time we realize it, it may be too late.
Now is the time to speak up. To push for reform, not just reaction. To demand systems that protect people and principles. Because if we only defend the Constitution when it’s easy, we don’t deserve to claim it at all.
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