Democrats’ bizarrely misplaced empathy
This week, Democrats decided to expend their quickly diminishing political capital in defense of a deported Salvadoran illegal immigrant named Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Garcia was deported to El Salvador some weeks ago; the Department of Justice initially admitted that his deportation was an “administrative error.” It turns out that Garcia had an order withholding removal to his home country, due to his claims that returning to El Salvador would risk his life. Nonetheless, the administration flew him to that country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, where he is apparently being held to date.
Initially, a district court judge ruled that Abrego Garcia’s removal was violative of due process, and that the administration had to “facilitate” his return to the United States. The case was elevated to the Supreme Court, which found 9-0 that while the executive branch likely had the power to order his deportation, it still had to follow court orders to “facilitate” his temporary return for due process reasons. The Trump administration, for its part, claims that it has already “facilitated” his release from custody – that they’ve asked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele nicely to release him, and that Bukele has refused. Bukele sat in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump and said just that: “The question is preposterous: how can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?”
Regardless of the legal wrangling over the case – and there is in fact a solid legal basis to the idea that the administration ought to temporarily return Abrego Garcia just to receive a court hearing, after which he can be deported right back again – Democrats have wrong-footed themselves yet again. This week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., decided to fly down to El Salvador to visit Abrego Garcia; other congressional Democrats vowed to do the same. In their telling, Abrego Garcia is an innocent caught up in the mills of wrongheaded justice.
But Abrego Garcia is indeed a nefarious character. It turns out that aside from his illegal immigration status, Garcia’s wife accused him of “violently beating her multiple times” in a 2021 court filing, according to the Daily Mail. When he was originally arrested in 2019, arrest records show he was found with cash and drugs, as well as two other members of MS-13, while wearing gear associated with MS-13. And this is the person Democrats have tried to valorize.
Abrego Garcia isn’t the only awful person Democrats have attempted to sanctify. Democrats have also rushed to the defense of terror supporter and Columbia student visa holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who posted on his social media in commemoration of his terrorist cousin: “a leader of a fierce resistance fighter.” The New York Times went so far as to headline his story, “He Wanted Peace in the Middle East. ICE Wants to Deport Him.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have little to say about the illegal immigrant killer of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who was raped and murdered; Rachel’s mother, Patty, visited the White House briefing room to explain the case to a media that largely ignored it. Democrats similarly have gone silent about the burning of the home of Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa.; his home was set aflame by an anti-Israel man who said he wanted to let Shapiro know he “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” Democrats’ inconsistency here speaks volumes: If you are an illegal immigrant criminal, they will either ignore it or downplay it; if you are a visa-holder or criminal who favors Hamas, they will do the same.
Democrats have a wide variety of lines they can use to attack the Trump administration. But their binary view of the world – opponents of Trump must by necessity be good – leads them down dark pathways. Which means that no matter how much they decry the lack of due process, nobody will trust them with the levers of power.