The White House defended the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a convicted MS-13 gang member, after The Atlantic published a sympathetic profile labeling him a “Maryland dad” and attributing his removal to a mere “administrative error.” The Trump administration, however, maintains that Garcia was a verified gang member and posed a danger to public safety.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the matter during Tuesday’s briefing, describing the deportation as legally justified despite the clerical mistake. “The error that you are referring to was a clerical error. It was an administrative error,” Leavitt said. “This individual was a member of the brutal, ambitious MS-13 gang… and was involved in human trafficking.”
Leavitt cited multiple facts backing the deportation, including court rulings and intelligence assessments. “Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore,” she said. “It is within the President’s executive authority and power to deport these heinous individuals from American communities.”
Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was denied bond in 2019 by an immigration judge who determined he was a gang member and a threat. Though Garcia later received asylum from another judge, the earlier ruling remained on record. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the original decision, reinforcing the finding that Garcia was affiliated with MS-13.
Senator JD Vance (R-OH) rebuked media coverage of the deportation, saying the facts were clear. “He was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here,” Vance wrote. “It’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize.”
Despite pushback from Garcia’s legal team, the administration defended its actions under revised legal authority after a judge ruled that the Alien Enemies Act could not be used. The U.S. is currently paying $6 million annually to hold deported MS-13 and other gang members in El Salvador as part of its counter-terrorism strategy.
Garcia’s attorneys argue that no concrete evidence of gang involvement has been presented, claiming the deportation violates due process. Still, immigration law allows for deportation proceedings based on evidence reviewed by administrative courts, not jury trials. As Leavitt noted, “It is a promise [the president] campaigned on. It is a promise he is keeping.”
