Thanks for this article. I'm disturbed that the main stream media is not able to walk and chew gum at the same time - reporting on the shocking Garcia story, but essentially forgetting about Andry Romero. MSM, WAKE UP!
Main stream media are pretending to drink the koolaid plus they have to do the 50/50 stuff where plus side vs opposition have to have equal time. Such a false standard. So we have cult liars 50% and truth seekers 50%? Now the truth seekers are sucking the orange turd’s dick so truth tellers only spew out garbled words because their f*ing mouths are full of orange phallus!!!! Tariff blah blah blah depression blah, etc concentration camp, blah scotus is useless, blah senate is a joke, blah, Marjorie Taser Greene blah genetic abnormality likely an inborn error of metabolism, blah tax the poor blah save the billionaires (mostly disgusting white men, a few noble white women mostly divorced from said white men, a very small number of pretty disgusting black men and Oprah). We will be paying the interest on our ever growing national debt for them and swallowing a lot of lies. Wake up America!
Thank you for telling Andry Romero's story. It is all the things you say - appalling, terrifying, unconscionable.
The Contrarian is stalwart in standing up for human rights and wouldn't be seen in the company of the anonymous House Democrat. And, indeed The Contrarian's coverage of the ongoing protests for Democracy show that Americans across the country are standing up for the rights of Andry Romero, Kilmar Garcia because that's what a belief in human rights looks like.
As bad as Kilmars illegal abduction and subsequent incarceration is, Andry's story is all the more perilous. He is gay and will be subjected to the brutal world of a punitive, secretive, hellhole that pretends to be legitimate. He seems to have no defenses, and will be a target from the minute he is placed there. This is horrific, and is basically condemning an innocent human being who was following the law by trying to find safe haven in the United States. The callousness of all of this is breathtaking, and the hubris of the tawdry Trump administration seems to know no bounds. I keep thinking that things can't get much worse, but each day brings new horrors that we read about in the news as to the actions of Trump and his gang. Trump is an acting Mob Boss, not a president, and I will no longer call him that. Until we get Congress to actually do something about this corrupt, demented, and utterly pointless Presidency, we are without real leadership.
Thank you. I've thought about Andry every day. And the others whose names I don't know. I'm hoping and praying the advocates will be able to use Judge Wilkinson's order to help them all.
Garcia can be the attention-drawer but we cannot afford to dismiss these other lives equally valuable in the sight of God and equally entitled to due process. Thank you for your stories. There is power in them. I will add Andry to my prayer list and my story-telling.
Our household has been worried about Kilmar, Andry, and the others whose names we may or may not know. At least in this small corner of the U.S., they are by no means forgotten.
Thank you for linking to Mohsen's story. I had heard something very brief about this on national news and it did not sound quite as it should be, or at least prior to Trump and his illegal behavior pushed onto ICE.
Thank you for this. I have been writing about Andry's case in my comments at WaPo, and Tim Miller at the Bulwark has spent quite a bit of time on him, too. I hope people get the point that Andry followed the law, did everything right, and was deported anyway, and that he along with all of the other men are entitled to due process as a matter of justice. If they can disappear Andry, they can disappear anyone.
I find one note of hope from the link in the article:
"The issue of deportations — particularly Trump's suggestion that deportations of "homegrown" criminals could be next — is lighting up lawmakers' phone lines."
Democratic aides and lawmakers told Axios they were bombarded Tuesday with calls from constituents and activists, similar to how DOGE and tariffs have dominated their switchboards in past months.
"It's a lot," one House Democrat told Axios when asked about the call volume they have received on the issue.
Said another House Democrat: "I just came from a round-table with two Dem activist groups and all they wanted to talk about was El Salvador."
It's a lot. All they wanted to talk about was El Salvador. Good. Let's keep the phone calls going. We'll survive DOGE and tariffs. Denying basic human rights is a bridge way too far.
I find among the many cruel and lawless things being done by the Trump regime, those things done to Kilmar and Andry are the most heinous ... and worthy of swift justice and impeachment ... with the due process Kilmar and Andry were denied.
I'm with you. So many of the stories we know of the Venezuelan men who were disappeared are appalling. However, their criminality or lack there of shouldn't matter. What should matter is that no one received due process or an opportunity to combat the government's allegations. Andry and Kilmar are egregious examples. No one deserves to be sent to a torture prison.
The lack of due process is what people need to understand. If it happens to one, it can happen to anyone. Can't seem to get that across to trump acolytes.
I’ve been worried about Andry since I first heard his story. It’s unfathomable that this could happen in America. Not the America I grew up in.
I wish we knew the names of all of those disappeared. Learn their stories. Hold up their names at rallies and protests.
I’m sure their families are wondering why their son, husband, brother, father is not getting attention.
I’ve commented on many Substacks asking about the others. Asking if any attention is being paid to getting them back. I’ve never seen it addressed.
No one else has been ordered to be returned. Where is justice for them? How many aren’t going to make it home? How many lives will be ruined from this experience? All of them. 😢
Thanks for this article. I'm disturbed that the main stream media is not able to walk and chew gum at the same time - reporting on the shocking Garcia story, but essentially forgetting about Andry Romero. MSM, WAKE UP!
Main stream media are pretending to drink the koolaid plus they have to do the 50/50 stuff where plus side vs opposition have to have equal time. Such a false standard. So we have cult liars 50% and truth seekers 50%? Now the truth seekers are sucking the orange turd’s dick so truth tellers only spew out garbled words because their f*ing mouths are full of orange phallus!!!! Tariff blah blah blah depression blah, etc concentration camp, blah scotus is useless, blah senate is a joke, blah, Marjorie Taser Greene blah genetic abnormality likely an inborn error of metabolism, blah tax the poor blah save the billionaires (mostly disgusting white men, a few noble white women mostly divorced from said white men, a very small number of pretty disgusting black men and Oprah). We will be paying the interest on our ever growing national debt for them and swallowing a lot of lies. Wake up America!
Thank you for telling Andry Romero's story. It is all the things you say - appalling, terrifying, unconscionable.
The Contrarian is stalwart in standing up for human rights and wouldn't be seen in the company of the anonymous House Democrat. And, indeed The Contrarian's coverage of the ongoing protests for Democracy show that Americans across the country are standing up for the rights of Andry Romero, Kilmar Garcia because that's what a belief in human rights looks like.
As bad as Kilmars illegal abduction and subsequent incarceration is, Andry's story is all the more perilous. He is gay and will be subjected to the brutal world of a punitive, secretive, hellhole that pretends to be legitimate. He seems to have no defenses, and will be a target from the minute he is placed there. This is horrific, and is basically condemning an innocent human being who was following the law by trying to find safe haven in the United States. The callousness of all of this is breathtaking, and the hubris of the tawdry Trump administration seems to know no bounds. I keep thinking that things can't get much worse, but each day brings new horrors that we read about in the news as to the actions of Trump and his gang. Trump is an acting Mob Boss, not a president, and I will no longer call him that. Until we get Congress to actually do something about this corrupt, demented, and utterly pointless Presidency, we are without real leadership.
Well written and compelling - I would like to have that Democrat publicly named.
So would I.
We have to remember there were many others incarcerated without due process who aren't getting attention.
Thank you. I've thought about Andry every day. And the others whose names I don't know. I'm hoping and praying the advocates will be able to use Judge Wilkinson's order to help them all.
Garcia can be the attention-drawer but we cannot afford to dismiss these other lives equally valuable in the sight of God and equally entitled to due process. Thank you for your stories. There is power in them. I will add Andry to my prayer list and my story-telling.
Me too.
Brilliantly written, well supported and eloquently stated. Gratitude to you for writing this. Will share with others and look forward to more ..
Our household has been worried about Kilmar, Andry, and the others whose names we may or may not know. At least in this small corner of the U.S., they are by no means forgotten.
This is the story of a Palestinian legally in the US and arrested, disappeared this week in Vermont.
https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2025-04-14/upper-valley-resident-detained-at-citizenship-interview-in-colchester
Thank you for linking to Mohsen's story. I had heard something very brief about this on national news and it did not sound quite as it should be, or at least prior to Trump and his illegal behavior pushed onto ICE.
It won’t be long until American citizens won’t have any rights either at the rate we’re moving towards authoritarianism.
Thank you for this. I have been writing about Andry's case in my comments at WaPo, and Tim Miller at the Bulwark has spent quite a bit of time on him, too. I hope people get the point that Andry followed the law, did everything right, and was deported anyway, and that he along with all of the other men are entitled to due process as a matter of justice. If they can disappear Andry, they can disappear anyone.
I find one note of hope from the link in the article:
"The issue of deportations — particularly Trump's suggestion that deportations of "homegrown" criminals could be next — is lighting up lawmakers' phone lines."
Democratic aides and lawmakers told Axios they were bombarded Tuesday with calls from constituents and activists, similar to how DOGE and tariffs have dominated their switchboards in past months.
"It's a lot," one House Democrat told Axios when asked about the call volume they have received on the issue.
Said another House Democrat: "I just came from a round-table with two Dem activist groups and all they wanted to talk about was El Salvador."
It's a lot. All they wanted to talk about was El Salvador. Good. Let's keep the phone calls going. We'll survive DOGE and tariffs. Denying basic human rights is a bridge way too far.
I find among the many cruel and lawless things being done by the Trump regime, those things done to Kilmar and Andry are the most heinous ... and worthy of swift justice and impeachment ... with the due process Kilmar and Andry were denied.
I'm with you. So many of the stories we know of the Venezuelan men who were disappeared are appalling. However, their criminality or lack there of shouldn't matter. What should matter is that no one received due process or an opportunity to combat the government's allegations. Andry and Kilmar are egregious examples. No one deserves to be sent to a torture prison.
The lack of due process is what people need to understand. If it happens to one, it can happen to anyone. Can't seem to get that across to trump acolytes.
I’ve been worried about Andry since I first heard his story. It’s unfathomable that this could happen in America. Not the America I grew up in.
I wish we knew the names of all of those disappeared. Learn their stories. Hold up their names at rallies and protests.
I’m sure their families are wondering why their son, husband, brother, father is not getting attention.
I’ve commented on many Substacks asking about the others. Asking if any attention is being paid to getting them back. I’ve never seen it addressed.
No one else has been ordered to be returned. Where is justice for them? How many aren’t going to make it home? How many lives will be ruined from this experience? All of them. 😢