After being challenged by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the Trump administration is in a panicked, full-court press to defend their abduction of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia and ship him to a harmful jail in El Salvador.
Van Hollen visited El Salvador on Wednesday to examine on Abrego Garcia’s wellbeing and presumably safe his launch. He was denied entry to the person, who has a spouse and two kids at residence, who has not been charged with against the law, and whom a decide granted safety from deportation in 2019.
“U.S. courts have determined that he was illegally abducted from the United States and now finds himself in the most notorious prison in El Salvador,” Van Hollen mentioned in a video assertion.
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I have been in El Salvador all day combating for the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia.
The Trump Administration can lie all they need, however the Courtroom mentioned they failed to point out he was a part of MS-13. That is about bringing residence a person they ADMIT ought to by no means have been kidnapped. I will not relaxation till then.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@vanhollen.senate.gov) 2025-04-17T00:52:36.792Z
“The Trump Administration can lie all they want, but the Court said they failed to show he was part of MS-13,” Van Hollen wrote in a publish on the social media website Bluesky, alongside the video. “This is about bringing home a man they ADMIT should never have been abducted. I won’t rest until then.”
Democrats within the Home have backed Van Hollen’s journey, and on Tuesday, two members of the Home Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia of California and Maxwell Frost of Florida, requested that the committee’s chair, Republican James Comer, authorize an official congressional delegation to go to the jail the place Abrego Garcia is being detained.
Republicans have expressed outrage at Democrats pushing to reunite the household.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt—who has an extended monitor report of mendacity to the general public—claimed with out proof on Wednesday that Abrego Garcia is a gang member and “foreign terrorist.”
Based on courtroom paperwork, the declare that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang is predicated on rumour from a police detective who was later suspended.
To additional emphasize the supposed risk from immigrants, Leavitt has additionally hosted Patty Morin, the mom of a lady killed by an undocumented immigrant. The correct has usually invoked the Morin case to justify its bigoted anti-immigrant positions.
Clearly pissed off that some within the media aren’t collaborating within the assault on immigrants, Trump-appointed Federal Communications Fee Chair Brendan Carr complained and threatened Comcast over subsidiary MSNBC’s selection to not air the briefing—an editorial resolution protected by the First Modification. MSNBC, which airs through satellite tv for pc and cable, is usually not topic to FCC licensing necessities—one thing that the top of the FCC ought to know.
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JUST IN: Deputy Assistant to the President and “Counterterrorism Czar” Sebastian Gorka says anybody advocating for due course of for Kilmar Abrego Garcia could possibly be seen as “aiding and abetting a terrorist” and be federally charged. (h/t Philip Germain)
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-04-17T02:07:13.121Z
On Thursday morning, Republican Rep. Dan Meuser admitted that the Maryland man is just not a terrorist however argued that “he’s a potential terrorist” and a “terrorist-watchlist person,” justifying the person’s abduction.
Republicans are below strain with the state of affairs they created. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa was angrily confronted on Tuesday by residents of his red-state constituency over the administration’s actions on Abrego Garcia.
The Republican meltdown is coming as opinion polls present the general public uncomfortable with the Trump administration’s dealing with of immigration, a sometimes robust problem for the Republican Social gathering.
A brand new ballot from Civiqs for Every day Kos finds that 51% of registered voters considerably or strongly disapprove of how Trump has dealt with immigration. Moreover, 63% of these surveyed mentioned they oppose deporting migrants who’re legally within the U.S.
Democrats are pushing to revive due course of, and Republicans have responded by being overly defensive and reflexively dishonest—all whereas dropping increasingly public belief.
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