On a recent segment of CNN’s NewsNight, political commentator Shermichael Singleton did something rare in mainstream media: he spoke plainly and unapologetically about facts the Democratic establishment would rather you ignore. At the center of the debate was Abrao Garcia, a man with alleged ties to the transnational gang MS-13, whose deportation under Donald Trump has become a flashpoint for liberal outrage. Singleton reminded the panel that a judge ruled in 2019 that Garcia had credible gang affiliations — based on evidence from a Prince George’s County gang unit — and yet Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to bring him back.
What’s more disturbing than the political acrobatics required to defend such a position is the moral hypocrisy it reveals. As members of Congress fly to El Salvador to plead the case of a man tied to a violent organization, they remain silent on the ongoing injustices happening in Black communities right here in America. You won’t find them in the Bronx standing beside Andre Brown, a Black man whose 1999 murder conviction was recently vacated after he served 23 years in prison. Instead of letting justice take its course, Democratic Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark is now appealing that decision, fighting to send this man back to prison.
Let that sink in: the same political party that marshals national resources to defend an alleged MS-13 affiliate, a judge ruled in 2019 that Garcia had credible gang affiliations, is actively working to re-convict a Black man whose case was vacated by a Judge. Where is the outrage? Where are the same voices shouting about due process and fairness?
And what about Sincere Jazmin, a 14-year-old boy gunned down in broad daylight in Queens? No press conference. No national campaign. His death, like the lives of too many Black boys, was quietly buried — not just in the ground, but in the conscience of the political class that claims to fight for justice.
Read: Where is the Outrage When a Black Child Dies?
Ana Navarro, posturing as the conscience of the panel, tried to reframe the conversation by invoking slavery, saying undocumented immigrants “are not the same as Black people who were brought here against our will.” She’s right — they’re not. But if Navarro truly cared about the legacy of slavery, she wouldn’t use it to deflect scrutiny from a criminal case while ignoring modern-day injustice faced by the descendants of enslaved people.
The selective outrage exposes a political machine more invested in optics than outcomes. It’s easy to fly to El Salvador and show compassion. It’s harder to stand in the South Bronx and explain why a man who served 23 years in prison is being targeted by a Democrat DA for re-prosecution. One is performative. The other is justice.
Shermichael Singleton spoke truth on that panel. He didn’t rely on feelings — he relied on court records, law enforcement files, and legal history. And still, he was talked over, minimized, and dismissed. Because truth has no place in a political culture built on selective compassion.
This is not about denying rights to immigrants. It’s about demanding that Black Americans — especially our boys and men — finally receive the equal protection of the law they were promised after emancipation but have never fully received.
If Democrats can organize resources, media campaigns, and diplomatic visits for a deportation case, they can certainly find the time to speak up for Andre Brown, for Sincere Jazmin, and for every other Black family still waiting for the system to work for them.
But they don’t. And that silence? That’s not just hypocrisy. It’s betrayal.
