Senate Democrat calls Abrego Garcia case 'constitutional crisis'

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the case of a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador is a “constitutional crisis.”

Murphy, seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, argued that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported because he had been given protected status by a U.S. court, which determined he could be endangered if sent back to El Salvador.

“Donald Trump ignored that court order and deported him,” Murphy said in a video posted Tuesday to the social platform X. Murphy noted that Abrego Garcia has a wife who is a U.S. citizen and children born in the United States.

“It was such a brazen violation of the law that the Supreme Court weighed in. In a rare 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court said that Trump had to bring this individual back to the United States, but he still didn’t do it. This is the constitutional crisis,” he said.

The Supreme Court in its ruling on the case upheld a lower court's requirement for the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release, but they also cautioned that the lower court judge's authority only goes so far and that she may not be able to “effectuate” the man’s return. 

It's left both sides in the legal battle arguing points they say back their views of the case.

In his video posted to X, Murphy said, “If the president has the power to jail ... to deport anyone, even if they have a legal right to be here as a citizen or through protected status given by the courts, then none of us are safe.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.