AG Report 5.7.2025

Democrats Botch Response to Abrego Garcia Case

Democrats have made the Abrego Garcia case a central aspect of their public opposition to Trump’s deportation policies. This has been a major error that has shifted the focus to an issue that is much more favorable for Trump.

There are several issues in this case. The first concerns due process, where Democrats have a clear advantage. The Trump administration deported Garcia to El Salvador despite a valid withholding of removal order. That’s a violation of his due process rights.

The administration should have asked a judge to lift the order and then deported him. I believe a judge would have found sufficient evidence that the original reason for granting the order, a threat from a specific gang, was no longer applicable — especially since Garcia had already been denied asylum.

Once the mistake was realized, the Trump administration should have found a way to rectify the situation. I suspect they are politically disinclined to do so because discussing the case now works to their advantage.

At the same time, it was Democrats and their media allies who put this case at the center of their opposition strategy. They rallied behind an ill-conceived narrative that Garcia was simply a “Maryland father” and an innocent victim being unfairly smeared. They even flew to El Salvador as a political stunt to reinforce their support for Garcia. In doing all this, they revealed poor political instincts and misplaced priorities. Those mistakes have been magnified by the news that’s come out in the past few weeks: