WASHINGTON — A controversial deportation case has opened up a rift within the Democratic Party over how aggressively to go after President Donald Trump on an issue that has been one of his biggest political strengths.
Some members of the party are leaning heavily into Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador without due process, accusing Trump of defying a court order. But others, while still objecting to Trump’s actions, have sought to shift the focus to economic concerns amid the whiplash of the president’s tariff policies and persistently high prices.
Trump officials initially conceded that Abrego Garcia, who was subject to a withholding order preventing his expulsion to El Salvador and wasn’t convicted of a crime, was removed to his home country due to an “administrative error.” The administration has alleged he was a gang member and deserved deportation.
The Supreme Court didn’t accept that rationale, and last week it ordered the administration to “facilitate” his return to the U.S., which led a judge to demand daily updates on any progress.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., has been among the outspoken Democrats on Abrego Garcia’s case, visiting El Salvador this week to push for his release. In addition, other congressional Democrats like Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Delia Ramirez of Illinois have offered to help Van Hollen or even travel to El Salvador themselves.
“The Trump administration is clearly in violation of American court orders,” Van Hollen said.
But other Democrats have avoided weighing in on the issue — or offered muted responses when asked about it.
As California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, rolled out a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Trump’s sweeping tariffs, he had little to say about the Abrego Garcia case when asked to weigh in.
“This is the distraction of the day. The art of distraction,” said Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender. “And here, we zig and zag. This is the debate they want. This is their 80-20 issue, as they’ve described it.”
While noting that the government needs to abide by court orders and the rule of law, Newsom added, “It’s exactly the debate they want, because they don’t want this debate on the tariffs; they don’t want to be accountable to markets today.”
A CNBC poll released Thursday found that majorities of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the southern border with Mexico (53%) and “deporting illegal immigrants” (52%). But his numbers were underwater on economic issues, with 57% disapproving of his tariffs on goods from other countries and 60% disapproving of his handling of inflation and the cost of living.
As a result, some Democrats prefer to avoid talking about immigration and instead focus on the economy, seeing that as the issue that powered Trump’s 2024 victory and the best way to regain support among voters they lost last fall.
“I think it’s a mistake to focus Democratic opposition on border and immigration because that’s playing on Trump’s turf and on an issue where people continue to support how he’s handling,” said one Democratic operative, who spoke candidly about the sensitive topic on condition of anonymity. “And it’s an issue where most voters see Democrats being particularly weak on, and focusing all the opposition on the issue plays into that perception.”
A second Democratic strategist said “there is space to fight back on multiple fronts” against the Trump administration, but emphasized that “the strongest point of contrast” is on economic issues, by driving the message that he’s working for “the billionaire boys club.”
The strategist said that “prices, costs and the economy are top of mind for voters — yesterday, today and next November.”
The administration released new documents Wednesday detailing its allegations of Abrego Garcia’s gang ties, which he denies, and that his wife sought a temporary restraining order against him in 2021. His wife said this week she dropped that case at the time and is now advocating for him, criticizing the Trump administration’s actions as unwarranted.
Still, Democratic pollster Natalie Jackson said on X that the evidence makes him “a bad poster child” for Democrats’ case against Trump — even if he didn’t deserve the treatment he received — and that the party needs “a better ‘hero’ for due process” than Abrego Garcia.
Other Democrats say the reluctance to criticize Trump on certain issues represents a mentality that regularly puts the party on the back foot, making it appear poll-tested rather than operating on the basis of conviction.
“The fact that Chris Van Hollen taking a flight to El Salvador is an anomaly and not the first instinct of every Democrat is a shame,” said Kat Abughazaleh, a liberal advocate and influencer who is challenging Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., in a deep-blue district.
Abughazaleh said in an interview that Democrats are treating Trump’s actions as “normal” politics when their voters don’t think that’s the case and want their elected officials to use their platforms to rally public opposition.
She argued that the case is about much more than Abrego Garcia.
“If you can’t just have empathy on a human level, then you should at least be concerned that if they can get rid of due process for one population, what will they do for another? If they can do that to them, what will they do to us?” Abughazaleh said. “Authoritarianism doesn’t stop at the first target.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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