That the US was deporting people aggressively has been known for quite some time now, but what to do when it continues to do so without any regard for the law? If deportations can now ignore court orders, even as President Trump’s own senators call for an end to the status quo, migrants everywhere are less safe, and the consequences are global. Take Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a US resident with no criminal record or ties to El Salvador. He had an active legal case and a court order blocking his deportation yet he was still removed. Not to his home country, but to El Salvador, increasingly known for harsh crackdowns, mass detentions, and legal black holes. Since January, more than 300 people have been detained in El Salvador; many without charge, access to lawyers, or even a trial date. The country’s CECOT “mega-prison” isn’t the solution Washington attempts to portray. It’s a warning sign. With rightly drawn parallels to Guantanamo Bay, human rights activists are increasingly concerned that the absence of legal protections equates to torture and other abuses. So why is the US sending people there? The answer is chillingly simple: it’s easier. Deporting migrants to a place where rules are lax and accountability is nearly nonexistent allows for the circumvention of long-established judicial precedents. However, countries like Pakistan with millions of citizens living, working, and studying in the US– many having navigated complex immigration systems–cannot afford to sit still. If even those with valid paperwork and court protection can be removed without warning, what recourse do others have? It doesn’t take much imagination to see how Pakistanis could be next. Of course, changing dynamics around the world are screaming out loud that it’s no longer solely about Trump’s policies but rather, a broader, disturbing shift: democratic countries striking clandestine deals with authoritarian regimes to manage migrant populations, often at the expense of basic rights. And migrants from the Global South are the ones being sacrificed. Between raising these concerns directly with American diplomats and forcefully bringing this issue before international bodies, the affected governments must push for transparent, rights-based policies that cannot be unilaterally waived in moments of political pressure. If this alarming model of deporting people into legal dead zones becomes standard practice, it won’t stop with El Salvador. And when due process erodes in one country, it risks collapsing elsewhere too. *