I appreciated in the guest column “Everyone is entitled to due process” [Recorder, May 16] that Republican lawyer Isaac Mass was taking a stand against the injustices of the Trump administration. However, when stating “… deporting undocumented foreign born criminal gang members without a hearing is unconscionable” isn’t he assuming these people are gang members just because Trump says they are? They never had a chance to challenge the charges against them. Mr. Mass should have referred to them as “accused gang members.”

Let’s not forget that when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to prison in El Salvador the government admitted it was “an administrative mistake.” It had no proof he was a gang member. Recently the administration admitted to erroneously deporting a Guatemalan man to Mexico. As Mr. Mass pointed out, the Trump administration prefers to “move fast and break things, ” even if it means trampling on the rights of people living in this country. The Supreme Court has directed Trump to facilitate the release of Mr. Garcia and it has just blocked the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants who were not given their legal rights. Let’s hope that, through the checks-and-balances of our judicial system, we can return to a country where the president respects the rule of law.

Susan Kramer

Gill