Fundamental American ideals—due process, obeying court decisions, and limiting government overreach—are at the heart of the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case for Democrats. Immigrants, gangs, and urban crime are the main concerns of the Trump administration and Republicans.
That is the very kind of debate that Donald Trump is hoping to spark.
This contradiction is being played out as Democrats reaffirm their support for Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was unjustly deported and incarcerated without due process. His opponents are painting him as an affront to people’s freedom to resist President Trump’s immigration policy.
Despite a Supreme Court judgment stating that Abrego Garcia must be returned to the United States, the Trump administration is increasingly using this deportation as a test case in their war against illegal immigration.
Officials in the White House are attempting to influence public opinion by claiming that Democrats are protecting an immigrant whom they have labeled a gang member based on the testimony of an informant. The immigrant’s wife has acknowledged to having filed a protective order against him in the past, but she is now demanding his return.
“Due process and separation of powers are matters of principle,” said Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who also chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on Thursday. “Everyone is in danger unless everyone gets due process.”
On the issue of immigration, Democrats started the year divided.
After an election season in which Trump and the Republicans won support by focusing on illegal border crossings and pledging to deport large numbers of people, the opposition began the year divided on immigration policy.
A senator has already traveled to El Salvador, and many legislators in the House are trying to arrange formal trips to the Salvadoran prison for Abrego Garcia, as more and more Democrats get engrossed in the issue. After meeting with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland shared images of the event on Thursday night. The representative failed to address the ongoing situation with Abrego Garcia, whose lawyers are attempting to persuade the Trump administration to ease his repatriation to the United States.
Several prominent Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Governor Gavin Newsom of California, and Hillary Clinton, are appealing to the public by presenting the case as an illustration of excessive government intervention.
Even Newsom, who is running for president, acknowledged Trump’s popularity-boosting skills.
“These are not normal times, so we have to call it out with clarity and conviction,” Newsom said in an interview with YouTube analyst Brian Tyler Cohen. However, in order for the American people to remain focused, we must also remain focused. His success stems from his knack at dominating every news cycle and diverting our attention in a myriad of areas.
Nearly half of American adults supported Trump’s stance on immigration in a March AP-NORC survey, making it one of his relative strengths. One part of his immigration program, the deportation of those with specific types of criminal records, was strongly supported by him when he took office. According to a January AP-NORC survey, the great majority of adults in the United States support the deportation of immigrants found guilty of violent crimes.
However, when it came to handling deportations in general, there was far less agreement.
Only under 40% of American adults were in favor of deporting illegal immigrants who had not committed a violent crime in January’s survey, while slightly over 40% were opposed. In a similar vein, a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in late February indicated that although almost half of the American population believes that “some” illegal immigrants should be deported, extremely few individuals in that demographic are in favor of expelling those immigrants who are employed or who are married to U.S. citizens.
Trump has been quite vocal in defending the stance of his government.
The deportation of Abrego Garcia was, according to the Trump administration, “an administrative error,” since immigration authorities knew about his protection from deportation. Despite the lack of criminal charges against him in the United States, Trump officials have characterized Abrego Garcia, a resident of Maryland, as a “terrorist” and asserted that he is a member of the MS-13 gang. “He is not coming back to our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi has stated.
Trump claims he is fulfilling his electoral mandate by upholding the government’s stance and providing justification for the deportation of millions of people by asserting, without providing proof, that a “big percentage” of migrants who came under Biden’s administration are criminals. Research shows that compared to native-born Americans, immigrants have a lower crime rate.
Although the exact date of Abrego Garcia’s arrival in the United States is unclear, he initiated legal action to halt deportation proceedings in 2019, long before Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for president, assumed office.
I was elected with the express purpose of expelling those felons from our nation, whether that means locking them up or just removing them from circulation. And I don’t see how courts can strip the president of that power,” Republican Trump said Thursday.
The administration of President Trump is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order,” according to a three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Despite his administration’s relative strength on immigration, they may find themselves in a harder scenario if they defy court judgments. If a federal judge finds that the Trump administration has done anything unlawful, roughly 8 out of 10 Americans say they should accept the verdict, according to a February Washington Post/Ipsos survey.
The Associated Press was informed by Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat from the Maryland district where Abrego Garcia resided, that his approach to the issue would remain same regardless of any accusations made by Trump officials. According to Ivey, who is on the moderate side of the party, there’s more to the problem than just immigration.
First of all, it’s a problem with immigration. Conversely, he emphasized that it is also a matter of constitutionality. A separation of powers dispute is quickly escalating, with the potential to reach historic dimensions; yes, immigration is a factor.
