Questions over the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia are spilling out in town halls.
“Are you gonna bring that guy back from El Salvador?” one person asked Sen. Chuck Grassley at a town hall on Tuesday. Other attendees cheered. After Grassley responded that it’s “not a power of Congress,” he was heckled by multiple participants, who accused the Trump administration of defying the Supreme Court by refusing to bring back Abrego Garcia from prison in El Salvador.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene got into a heated exchange over the case Tuesday night, and protesters were escorted out, some of whom ended up being tased (“Bye! Just like that illegal alien, bye!” Greene said). Some left chanting “free Kilmar.”
During a tele-town hall, someone asked Rep. Chip Roy about due process concerns in the case.
“It is a legitimate question,” Roy said. “Due process must be followed, but let’s remember that due process is at its zenith, at its maximum, when we’re talking about American citizens.”
As the administration flouts court orders on the case and the Trump team comes closer to being held in contempt of court, politicians from both parties are being pressed on what should be done for Abrego Garcia — if anything at all.
Republicans have largely stuck with the administration’s points.
Roy repeated the administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia was part of MS-13, though Roy admitted “that has not been formally adjudicated and found.”
The Texas Republican said it’s a shame so much attention has been brought to his case, when the administration is removing so many bad actors.
“We’ve got to stand up on the wall in defensive due process, 100%, and I will be doing my part in separation of powers to ensure that I believe the executive branch is doing what they need to do,” he said. “But I got to say, I have to give a lot of latitude to the commander in chief to figure out how to get these dangerous criminals off of our streets.”
Greene likewise repeated administration talking points, namely that Democrats and the media are siding with “illegal aliens.”
“I want to talk about what else I think is absolutely pathetic, is the media trying to defend an illegal alien that is a member of MS-13 that was deported to his home country, El Salvador,” she said. “That is shameful and that should never happen. What is wrong with our American media that they aren’t defending Americans?”
Democrats were more likely to bring up Abrego Garcia on their own, particularly those from Maryland, where the man lived with his family.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mentioned him at a rally. Rep. Jimmy Gomez was also asked about him during a town hall yesterday.
“This is extremely scary,” Gomez said, mentioning that some members were intending to visit El Salvador to get answers. He also referred to a case where a constituent of his was arrested abroad for protesting but was eventually released. “We’re going to do the same thing when it comes to the individuals that have been sent down there.”
Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents Abrego Garcia and his family, told NOTUS he’s not surprised to hear that even Republicans have been asked by their constituents about the case.
“He wasn’t just going to be grabbing people off the streets. It was murderers and rapists and drug traffickers, was what he said,” Ivey said of President Donald Trump and his deportation claims. “But you got all these guys like Kilmar that are getting snatched up.”
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.