Van Hollen: ‘I am not defending the man, I am defending the rights of this man to due process’

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/van-hollen-defending-man-defending-rights-man-due/story?id=120978764

47 comments

  1. >“I am not defending the man. I’m defending the rights of this man to due process,” Van Hollen told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday. “And the Trump administration has admitted in court that he was wrongfully detained and wrongfully deported. My mission and my purpose is to make sure that we uphold the rule of law, because if we take it away from him, we do jeopardize it for everybody else.”

  3. You can be against him and still respect our constitution and right of due process. It’s a constitutional right. Not that fucking hard.

  4. If we deny one American due process and the courts allow it, no one will have due process.

  5. None of those folks got due process. Personalizing it with one person is smart salesmanship, but the battle over rights is much bigger.

  6. We need more people like Van Hollen.  
    Practically find senators better than house members.  The house is only political due to two year terms.

  8. if there is no due process, you have no rights.

    first it will be immigrants. then it’ll be texas rounding up trans people. then it’ll be political activists. leftists will quietly start disappearing, being taken in middle of the night campus raids.

    the bedrock of freedom is due process.

    the united states of america is not a free country in 2025. it’s a authoritarian country. right now. today.

  9. That’s what magats don’t understand because they have no empathy. Nor do they actually believe in the Constitution.

  10. Hollen is actually defending the constitution when he defends this man. It’s astonishing to me that so many adult US citizens struggle with the concept of due process.

  12. This should be the point being screamed from everyone. It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t a gang member. It doesn’t matter if he does it doesn’t have a criminal record. He has the right to due process and a speedy trial. That’s the system of justice we have and no one is allowed to circumvent it.

  13. It is the literal foundation of our society and without it, it crumbles. MAGA wants it to crumble.

  14. If he’s as bad as they’re making him out to be, why are they so afraid of what a trial will say?

  15. The fact that Van Hollen needs to clarify the difference is why Trump, his ass kissers, and maga voters are a complete waste of otherwise potentially useful organs…

  16. One core facet of MAGA is being incapable of recognizing nuance no matter the issue or situation.

  17. That IS exactly the crux of the situation. Trump and his MAGA mouths (eg Karoline Leavitt, Marco Rubio, etc.) just keep throwing more alleged (but unproven) horrors into the mix, but the issue is that all those deportees should have received a Court hearing and legal representation. The only deportees being sent to CECOT should be those sentenced in an American Court to life-in-prison who could not be returned to their home country. Trump/Rubio secured a deal with Bukele, and like a new toy, they we’re overeager to try it out! Offshore Concentration Camps – wahoo!

  18. Yeah, I’m exhausted by the mental gymnastics that many conservatives are doing regarding this. It blows my mind at how selective they are regarding peoples rights.

  19. Yeah you can not like the person but still want them to be treated with basic decency and have their human rights respected

  20. Exactly this if it turns out he’s an MS-13 member after all (he’s not) then deport him if due process has been given and it’s been proven in court

  21. It’s always about the cruelty.

    Everyone in the country is given the right to due process. This includes people here illegally. That’s it. Cannot be more clear.

    Don’t let them attempt to change the narrative to legal status or criminal status. *It does not matter*. A criminal gets due process. Murderers, sex offenders, pedophiles, insurrectionists. All have that right. A person on vacation here who shoots someone is given due process here in the United States, not kidnapped and sent to a death camp overseas.

    But they don’t care about that because they don’t think these people deserve due process. Due process = humane and fair. That’s just not good enough for them. They want cruelty. Always have.

  22. Very good point. Supreme Court is defending the Person however.

    Lawless convicted felon Donald Trump is ignoring the Supreme Court.

    We have a constitutional crisis. Now what?

  23. It’s funny how MAGA was all into due process rights for DJT and the J6 terrorists but they are stunningly ignorant about anyone 🟤 else’s rights to due process….

  24. This. How hard is it to understand that we’re upset about the process and not necessarily the outcome.

  25. Flag hugging Constitution humping GOP are selective with what they agree with In the Constitution similar to how they act about the Bible.

  26. He is defending the Constitution and human rights while Republicans scream that he’s siding with an MS13 gang member. Who, by the way, they have zero evidence still on that. He has NO criminal record. The one thing they’re using is the tattoo, which is a far reach conspiracy theory.

    The tattoo with the symbols could just as easily mean the guy likes marijuana, feeling disoriented, loves Jesus, and he’s honoring his deceased loved ones.

    It’s wild to me that they got MS-13 from the symbols, but if you’re constantly living in a fake reality, you’ve got to exhaust every avenue to continue living there.

  27. Just to make it extra clear to MAGA, I want due process for accused MS-13 gang members, white nationalists, murderers, felony-convicted Presidents and everyone else. That, in no way, means I support or endorse them, simply that you support the established judicial process and democracy itself. It’s really not hard…

  28. It’s crazy how many people try to ignore that due process is a constitutional right. Yet they seem to be the ones always calling themselves “patriots”.

  29. Big W for Senator Van Hollen. This is what we elect Congress to do—go to bat for their constituents.

  30. This is why it’s hard to have political discussion in America because we can’t even agree on basic statements. There is no compromise to due process or equal rights

  31. You actually can defend this guy because he’s fucking innocent until proven guilty. I thought this was America. This guy has not been proven to break any laws that require punishment because he hasn’t had any due process.

  32. This is not controversial. Due process has been the foundation of western civilization since the Magna Carta in 1215. It certainly has roots reaching back much farther.

  34. I think a lot of people are missing the point. It’s not about if the man is a criminal or not.

    It’s about the rule of law, human rights, and following the constitution, not a man.

    If the man is a criminal, that is up to a court to decide using evidence and applying a verdict that adheres to the guidelines of the law and our constitution.

  35. And that’s what MAGAs don’t understand. They worship people and ignore laws.

  36. He should just say he’s defending the Constitution, which he swore an oath to uphold and protect. This is the main issue here. Trump is vilifying individuals to distract from his lawless behavior. His racist supporters are buying the narrative.

  37. Exactly which is why we need to bring them ALL back not just Kilmar. Give them all due process

  38. Yeah, the whole point of this is that everyone should tried in a court of law, and if proven guilty, given a sentence that is also lawful.

  39. No matter if the guy committed a crime or not, it’s a bigger crime to deny him due process. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

  40. If you don’t believe in due process you don’t believe in the US Constitution and therefore you are UnAmerican

  41. “I don’t agree with you but I will defend your right with my life”

  42. Magats don’t care about the difference but would squeal like stuck pigs if their rights were touched with a feather.

  43. Why is this so hard to understand? When you strip away due process, it becomes easy to simply assume guilt without actually looking for evidence. This puts everyone at risk as your basic rights no longer have any meaning. The MAGA clowns that are cheering this on are nuts. Imagine deporting someone to a prison with no sentence or no formal finding of guilt. This would never happen in a proper democracy where basic rights are upheld. 

  44. The process doesn’t change based on the person. School shooters, murders still get their trials. Thats America

  45. The Trump Administration then disgracefully trotted out a mother whose daughter was murdered by an illegal immigrant, in attempt to connect the two situations and drum up MAGAts support

    Meanwhile, the two situations have literally nothing to do with each other, but they are trying to conflate and trick low IQ people into agreeing that it’s perfectly acceptable for the executive branch to just disappear people into holding facilities or out of the country, and not even allow that person access to a court.

    The last time this was done, was during Eisenhower, and before that it was done during WWII when japanese, italian, and germans were put into internment camps

  46. You know the Trump administration is lying because if Garcia was such an evil criminal it would be easy to prove in court.

  47. Let’s say for the sake of argument that the constitution does not apply to anyone who isn’t a US citizen, and that illegals or criminals are not in fact entitled to its protections in any way. There nothing in the constitution to say this, again this is just a thought experiment.

    Illegals or criminals STILL would be entitled to due process because THAT’S HOW YOU DETERMINE LEGAL STANDING. Due process is not just enshrined in the constitution, it is fundamental to its existence. If the government can just declare you to be a person that the constitution does not apply to with no proof or no due process then the constitution isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

    We are not defending CRIMINALS. We are defending the ability to determine who actually is a criminal. If the government is allowed to ignore due process for some people then the floodgates are opened for them to ignore it for EVERYONE

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