Arellano: Trump's cruelty to migrants reminds us what Easter is about

It’s astir the extremity of Holy Week, the yearly Christian commemoration of the betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Faithful crossed the satellite are attending services to perceive the Gospel, spot reenactments of the cardinal moments successful the past 7 days of his beingness and rejoice successful the Good News — oregon astatine slightest have a large brunch with the family and fto the kids look for eggs and cocoa bunnies.

Easter is expected to beryllium a blessed time, but each I tin deliberation of is the radical who persecuted Jesus. At a clip erstwhile Christians are called upon to clasp Jesus’ connection of emotion and charity, our president continues to revel successful a cruelty that’s, well, biblical.

Even if you’re not a Christian, you’re astir apt acquainted with the Holy Week sayings and characters that exemplify the worst of humanity.

A Judas, for instance, is arsenic unspeakable a traitor arsenic the apostle who turned Jesus implicit to the authorities. We impeach radical of “washing their hands” erstwhile they’re successful complaint of a atrocious concern but garbage work — a notation to Pontius Pilate, the Roman politician who ordered the execution of Jesus contempt his archetypal reluctance, arsenic described successful the Gospels. Commentators sometimes comparison dictators to Herod, the king who ordered the massacre of children successful his quest to termination the babe Christ.

President Trump is embodying each of this and worse with his run against undocumented immigrants and thing remotely associated with them.

Trump is attempting to contradict birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, to babies calved to parents who aren’t citizens oregon lawful imperishable residents. He is seeking to rescind ineligible status for hundreds of thousands of migrants and has ordered radical successful the state illegally to registry with the national government nether the menace of fines and prosecution. He has besides placed thousands of migrants connected the Social Security Administration’s database of dormant people truthful they volition beryllium financially choked retired of the country.

And we’re lone 3 months into his 2nd term.

His underlings ape his ghoulish glee successful making life miserable for undocumented immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has live-tweeted deportations portion wearing constitution amended suited for a Real Housewife and sporting a shiny Rolex watch. On Valentine’s Day, the authoritative White House Instagram relationship said, “Roses are red/Violets are blue/Come present illegally/And we’ll deport you,” implicit with a pinkish background, hearts and headshots of Trump and his borderline czar, Tom Homan. Earlier this month, the White House shared a video connected X of handcuffed migrants being escorted by ICE agents, scored to “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).”

This nastiness has reached a crescendo with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran nationalist who crossed the borderline astatine property 16 to flight pack violence. An migration justice denied his petition for asylum successful 2019 but allowed him to stay successful the U.S. Since then, helium has married, had a kid and obtained a enactment permit.

Abrego Garcia is present imprisoned successful El Salvador, booted retired of the U.S. without a tribunal hearing and called a “terrorist” and MS-13 subordinate by Trump, adjacent though he’s ne'er been convicted of a crime. The Trump medication admits that deporting him was an “administrative error.”

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia astatine a edifice Thursday successful El Salvador’s capital.

(Press bureau of U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen / Associated Press)

But alternatively of doing everything they tin to instrumentality him to the U.S., they’re doing everything imaginable not to — damn the law. And damn the quality outgo of leaving Abrego Garcia to languish successful a situation sytem wherever inmates are crammed into cells and are progressively being utilized arsenic photograph ops by Republican lawmakers.

Don’t instrumentality my connection for it. Federal judges person described Trump’s actions arsenic “illegal” oregon “shocking,” with 1 justice calling the administration’s insistence that it has nary work to instrumentality Abrego Garcia to the U.S. a “fallacy.”

There’s a crushed Trump is utilizing amerciable migration to propulsion the boundaries of America law, if not outright spitting connected them: A large chunk of the American colonisation is cheering him on. His supporters deliberation they’re not affected — that the lone radical being targeted are criminals. And adjacent if immigrants without transgression records are mistreated — similar Garcia and hundreds of others who didn’t person a accidental to contention their deportations — they had it coming anyway, since they ne'er should person travel to this country.

If Trump’s advisors are his apostles successful selling his anti-immigrant crusade, the Pontius Pilate successful this Passion play is El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, adored by the American close arsenic the ne positive ultra of modern-day Latin American strongmen. Unlike the Roman prelate, though, Bukele is much than blessed to support his hands filthy with an unjust persecution.

In an Oval Office chat this week, Trump said that lone Bukele could instrumentality Abrego Garcia to the U.S., and the Salvadoran president vowed that wouldn’t happen. When Trump suggested that El Salvador should physique much prisons to clasp American citizens, Bukele agreed, adding that successful bid to “liberate” the American people, “you person to imprison some.”

On societal media, Bukele mocked a caller gathering betwixt Abrego Garcia and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, cracking that Abrego Garcia had “miraculously risen” from “death camps” and was “now sipping margaritas ... successful the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”

Instead of shuddering astatine these words, excessively galore Trump supporters — galore of whom are professed Christians — simply shrug.

The persecution of Abrego Garcia and different deported migrants reminds maine of different Christian — German theologian Martin Niemöller, who wrote the poem that begins, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not talk retired — Because I was not a socialist.”

Niemöller was decrying the complacency of his countrymen arsenic the Nazis roseate to powerfulness by archetypal targeting the astir despised groups successful German society. The prose is arsenic celebrated arsenic it is cliched, but Niemöller’s connection is the aforesaid 1 that we Christians instrumentality to bosom during Holy Week.

Tyrants ne'er privation to stop. Only by lasting with the slightest among america tin bully triumph — otherwise, evil rules.

So which is it, Americans?