By Michael Leppert
The Indiana Citizen
April 16, 2025
“Bridge of Spies” is a 2015 movie about an insurance attorney, James Donovan, who finds himself representing a Soviet spy, Rudolph Abel, in a highly publicized espionage trial in 1957. Yes, it’s directed by Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks stars in it, so, of course, there are Academy Awards involved. And yes, there were dramatic embellishments in the storytelling sprinkled throughout the film with one important exception: The government never betrayed its duty to the U.S. Constitution.
Imagine 1950’s America. We were at war with the Soviet Union. No one could be more unanimously seen as evil than that ominous enemy and their soldiers. And Rudolph Abel was guilty. Not because J. Edgar Hoover said so, but because he was convicted in a court of law.
I have immense pride in the things that make my home what it is. I have traveled abroad and met people where they live, and I have met an abundance of people here, who are not from here. The circumstances of our lives are what fascinates us with one another. And I have always preferred mine to theirs.
Those circumstances changed on Monday. History will date it.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis instructing the government to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador where he was erroneously deported. SCOTUS specifically instructed the Trump administration to “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who had been living in Maryland and has had a work permit since 2019.
The Department of Justice had been fighting the lawsuit filed by Garcia’s family in response to the deportation, even though it acknowledged it was done in error. The legal wrangling of the government to avoid righting its wrong in this case has been absurd for weeks. However, when the highest court in the land issued its decision last week, the American in me had a brief rush of hope that our constitution would hold.
That hope is now gone.
Judge Xinis took the order and quickly issued additional instructions and ordered additional information from the government about the status of Garcia and the plan for his return. The DOJ violated deadlines, refused to provide detailed information, and in general, displayed its apparent intent to ignore the court’s instructions throughout the weekend.
The stage was being set for the Executive Branch to formally refuse to comply with the Judicial Branch.
Garcia represents anyone in America. With regard to his right to due process, he is no different than any other human on American soil. He has effectively been “disappeared” by our government, and the government is now defiantly pretending that it is unable to make him reappear. The fantastical claims being made by Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Nayib Bekele of El Salvador of how neither is responsible, accountable or able to correct this wrong should be viewed by all of us in this manner: What if this happened to me?
There is no law, no procedure, no precedent that enables the government to seize a person and ship them to another country and refuse to bring them back without due process. Nothing empowers the government to do this to anyone. There is also nothing that differentiates Kilmar Abrego Garcia from Michael Leppert in this regard. It could just as easily be me in that El Salvadoran prison.
Am I next? Are you?
Since the government began stonewalling last week, the question on my mind has been whether Garcia is even still alive or not. This question led me to ask, what if the government killed him instead of deporting him? What if the government in El Salvador kills him, or allows him to be killed?
And again, what makes Garcia any different than anyone else? An unproven accusation?
We aren’t talking enough about the line that has been crossed here and what it means. If our government won’t follow the law in this matter, it is safe to assume that it won’t in general. And when our government no longer exists within the laws that empower it, no one here is safe from it. Not anymore.
The forces in charge of the disappearing wear masks. They are law breakers. They have become the enemy.
In 1957, when Rudolph Abel was convicted of espionage, the court did not sentence him to death, though the law allowed it, and the citizenry wanted it. In 1960, SCOTUS upheld the conviction on a 5-4 vote, almost overturning it for violations of Abel’s due process rights.
Courage from a few people was needed for the law to work then. Courage from us all will be needed in the lawless reality we face now.
Michael Leppert is an author, educator and a communication consultant in Indianapolis. He writes about government, politics and culture at MichaelLeppert.com. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Indiana Citizen or any other affiliated organization.
