The Trump administration improperly deported at least two immigrants to El Salvador, but Republicans in Congress say that error rate is acceptable and expected.
Republican lawmakers framed the two mistaken removals as a sign of success rather than a sign that the Trump administration is undertaking its mass deportation efforts, which have reportedly grown to include plans to deport immigrants on military flights to Libya, without enough regard for due process or civil liberties. Some of them said the errors are a natural consequence of President Donald Trump’s fast-tracked deportations, operations they argue are necessary to undo years of Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
“If you’re doing something, you’re going to have errors,” Rep. Eric Burlison told NOTUS. “They could certainly have no errors if they avoid doing this. But the truth is, they’ve got to do it, and they’ve got to do it for the country, and the way in which they handle any kind of hiccups is up to them moving forward.”
Despite those cases becoming political flashpoints, GOP lawmakers told NOTUS that it’s not a sign Trump should slow down.
“I’m concerned that they’re going too slow. We need to ramp it up. We brought in 10 million people illegally over four years. We gotta get them all out. If you’re here illegally, you gotta go,” Sen. Bernie Moreno told NOTUS.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s deportation in March, which the Trump administration admitted was an “administrative error” before reversing course, earned attention from Republicans and Democrats alike. The case even reached the Supreme Court, which weighed in to uphold an order for the administration to “facilitate” his return.
But it appears his erroneous deportation is not the only mistake: on Monday, Politico identified another man wrongfully deported to El Salvador as 20-year-old Daniel Lozano-Camargo, who fled Venezuela citing fear of government persecution. A Trump-appointed, Maryland-based district judge ordered his return, saying his deportation violated a settlement that should have shielded him from removal while his asylum request was pending. On Tuesday, that judge reaffirmed her order, saying the issue is not about his asylum eligibility but “one of process,” according to Politico.
Still, Abrego Garcia and Lozano-Camargo remain in El Salvador. Previous court rulings protected Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador, the country the 29-year-old fled in 2011 citing a fear of gang violence. The Trump administration maintains the men aren’t eligible for asylum because it says both men are gang members, while the men’s counsel and family members have disputed this.
“There are over 10 million gotaways. There are going to be some hiccups,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis told NOTUS. “To have only two errors, I think, is outstanding. I think that’s an outstanding record of success, and so the fact that there’s only been two should be celebrated, instead of being cause for concern, because the mistakes are being corrected.”
Trump has shown no willingness to bring Abrego Garcia back, telling ABC News last week in an interview that he “could” bring him back, but wouldn’t.
The Trump administration has touted more than 140,000 deportations since Inauguration Day, a figure that researchers suggest is exaggerated. But the big number excites Republicans in Congress, who say they’re still comfortable cheering on Trump’s mass removal efforts, even if it makes more errors along the way.
“They’re deporting a lot of people. I think that’s a good thing. I mean, one or two cases. You’re going to have some slip-ups, and when they do, then they should try to correct it as best they can,” Sen. Josh Hawley said.
Trump said last month that having due process for every immigrant in the U.S. illegally would be impractical and take too long.
“If we don’t get these criminals out of our Country, we are not going to have a Country any longer. We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years. We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the Country. Such a thing is not possible to do,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Sen. Ron Johnson echoed Trump’s arguments, saying the issue is too urgent for the administration to risk letting up on its mass removal efforts.
“How do you give criminal illegal aliens the full due process rights of an American citizen and expect to clean up this mess?” Johnson asked. “This is an extraordinary, unprecedented invasion of our country, aided and abetted by the Biden administration. … We gotta clean it up. It’s not going to be easy.”
As the cases play out, Trump is seeing a downturn in public confidence on his ability to handle immigration. But several lawmakers told NOTUS the president is simply carrying out what he was elected to do.
“It’s about promises made, promises kept, and he promised to remove people that were here illegally, starting with those who are here with criminal intent. So I applaud them in that regard. But of course, you have to follow the law at the same time,” Sen. Ted Budd said.
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Emily Kennard is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.