I don’t think they’re concerned about him telling the press how he was treated. My impression is they don’t really give a shit about that. They know that the worse things are in ICE custody, the happier their supporters will be (just look at their comments on any social media). We have heard multiple members of this administration insist that harsh treatment serves as a deterrent for illegal immigration, and they believe this justifies their cruelty.
I suspect they view Garcia as a test of their power, whether they can prevail against court orders, or will eventually be forced to comply. They managed to ship him to El Salvador, despite court orders to the contrary. They managed to keep him there, despite court orders to return him, until members of Congress got involved. Garcia is important to this administration, because he is their chance to establish Executive authority as superseding court authority. That is a blatant contradiction of the Constitution, but directly in line with right-wing “Unitary Executive” theory.
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I don’t think they’re concerned about him telling the press how he was treated. My impression is they don’t really give a shit about that. They know that the worse things are in ICE custody, the happier their supporters will be (just look at their comments on any social media). We have heard multiple members of this administration insist that harsh treatment serves as a deterrent for illegal immigration, and they believe this justifies their cruelty.
I suspect they view Garcia as a test of their power, whether they can prevail against court orders, or will eventually be forced to comply. They managed to ship him to El Salvador, despite court orders to the contrary. They managed to keep him there, despite court orders to return him, until members of Congress got involved. Garcia is important to this administration, because he is their chance to establish Executive authority as superseding court authority. That is a blatant contradiction of the Constitution, but directly in line with right-wing “Unitary Executive” theory.