It is Holy Week. Jesus has entered Jerusalem, and these are to be his final days. Meanwhile, the likes of us pastors bustle to place the finishing touches on our services and sermons, preparing for the coming of the “C&E” crowd.
Paradoxically, these panicky days should be among our most prayerful. Yet, many of us spend it preoccupied with trivial details and trimmings, white lilies and linens. However, between me and Holy Week this year stands one Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I cannot look away.
Alissia J. Thompson
Yesterday represented an inflection point in the history of our democracy. In a rare unanimous vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Garcia to the U.S. Nevertheless, as our sitting president entertained yet another authoritarian in the Oval Office — this time the president of El Salvador — they issued what amounted to a joint shrug in response to Garcia’s plight.
In defiance of the highest court’s ruling, they agreed neither country would facilitate his return. It was a particularly harrowing moment, punctuated by a chorus of chortles at the suggestion that the “homegrowns” will be next. Yes, our sitting president has threatened to deport U.S. citizens to other countries without due process, and I believe him.
“Our sitting president has threatened to deport U.S. citizens to other countries without due process, and I believe him.”
We are on the precipice of constitutional collapse, and all I can think about is how closely this recapitulates the trial of Jesus.
Like Jesus, Garcia is an innocent man who has lived and worked in the United States since 2011. Out of fears for his life in El Salvador, he fled to the U.S. when he was just 16 years old. Yes, he came here illegally. However, in 2019 an immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal” status based on fears for his life, making his status legal.
Now, six years later and a husband and father to three children with disabilities, Garcia finds himself imprisoned in the infamous CECOT on account of an “administrative error” by this administration. This, despite a 2019 court order specifying Garcia specifically could not be deported back to El Salvador.
The accusation before him is that he is a member of the MS-13 gang, now branded a terrorist organization. Like claims that Jesus had referred to himself as “King of the Jews,” there is no evidence to substantiate his involvement.
I desperately want to imagine Garcia standing on trial before this administrator answering, “You say so,” in response to their wanton accusations. Unlike Jesus, though, Garcia has not been afforded a trial in the matter.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Instead, in the Oval Office yesterday, Pilate took some water and washed his hands of Garcia, saying, “There’s nothing I can do,” and turned him over to right-wing autocrat Nayib Bukele.
Remember Barabbas the insurrectionist? He was freed on account of the angry crowds and Pilate’s cowardice, condemning an innocent Jesus to the Cross. So, while countless J6ers walk freely on our streets, an innocent man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, has been sent to Golgotha: stripped of his clothes, now donning a prison jumpsuit, a symbol of mockery for this administration and its faithful.
I wonder: In a cell alongside other bandits, does he, too, cry out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Because I would.
It is Holy Week. Pastors, let us remember why we observe this occasion, and may God grant us the courage to do something before it is too late.
Jesus went to the Cross so Garcia doesn’t have to.
Forgive them, Abba, for they know not what they do.
Alissia J. Thompson serves as pastor of The United Church of Granville in Granville, Ohio. She earned a master of divinity degree from the University of Chicago and is currently working on a doctor of ministry degree at Fordham University. She resides in Newark, Ohio, with her wife and flock of fur and feather.