House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) rejected claims that deported Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia did not receive due process in his removal from the United States last month.
Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant, was deported to El Salvador last month despite a “withholding order” preventing him from being deported to that specific country over fears he would be persecuted by a gang there. The Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. and continue with his deportation case “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” but Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has repeatedly said he will not release Abrego Garcia from the country.
Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), have claimed Abrego Garcia has not received due process with his removal. However, while on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Emmer pointed to Abrego Garcia’s rejected asylum claim and subsequent deportation order after a hearing in 2019 as evidence of proper due process.
EMMER: “President Trump made it very clear, I’m going to get rid of the gang members, the murderers, the rapists, the terrorists. And this is part of that process in keeping that campaign promise. And I think they’re doing a good job at it.”
BASH: “There’s no evidence that was… pic.twitter.com/G9qPihAonS
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) April 20, 2025
“Actually, if you look at this, it’s very interesting when people talk about the fact that this illegal alien, who is not a resident of the U.S., he is a citizen of El Salvador, actually did have due process in an asylum hearing, where his request for asylum was rejected,” Emmer said.
“The Trump administration, as part of the promise that they made during the campaign, President [Donald] Trump made it very clear, I’m going to get rid of the gang members, the murderers, the rapists, the terrorists. And this is part of that process in keeping that campaign promise. And I think they’re doing a good job at it,” he added.
Emmer reiterated his claim despite pushback from CNN‘s Dana Bash.
“I think he was afforded that due process. In this case, an illegal alien was transported back to El Salvador. The administration initially thought it was a mistake, subsequently says it was not a mistake,” Emmer said, while noting that the U.S. is limited in how it can facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia.
The Minnesota Republican later claimed media outlets were overblowing the Abrego Garcia case beyond the “isolated incident” he believes it is.
VAN HOLLEN SKIRTS QUESTION AS TO WHETHER ABREGO GARCIA IS MS-13 MEMBER
“You want to make it about a much bigger thing. This is isolated incidents like the order that was issued after midnight this morning saying that they’re going to delay some deportations so that the lower court process can continue. These will happen on a case-by-case basis,” Emmer said.
“And, again, the administration is absolutely following the law. I see nothing that they have done that’s illegal. Certainly, judges may disagree here and there, but the Supreme Court has been pretty good about supporting what this administration is doing legally,” he added.
