A growing number of Democratic political consultants are raising red flags over the party’s high-profile defense of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant deported by the Trump administration amid allegations of MS-13 gang ties, domestic violence, and human trafficking. According to insiders, the optics of Democratic lawmakers championing Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. could backfire dramatically with swing voters and moderates heading into a contentious election cycle.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported last month after being arrested in 2019 and accused by Maryland’s Prince George’s County Police Department of being an active MS-13 gang member. A criminal informant reportedly confirmed his rank within the gang to federal immigration judges. Prior to this, he had been accused of domestic abuse by his wife, and linked to a human trafficking operation in Tennessee in late 2022.
Despite the gravity of these allegations, a group of progressive lawmakers—including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Maxine Dexter (D-OR)—traveled to El Salvador in recent weeks to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. The group, nicknamed the “El Salvador Four,” met with activists and held press events urging his release.
Democratic consultants are now sounding the alarm over the political cost of turning someone like Abrego Garcia into a cause célèbre.
“People can’t afford eggs, and you’re flying to sit with someone who’s accused of being in a gang,” one Democratic strategist told The Hill. “We want to help people, we want to stand up for injustice—but this isn’t the case to do it. This is a political liability.”
Consultants warned that defending a figure with a documented history of violent criminal allegations—especially one linked to MS-13, a gang widely associated with brutal murders, trafficking, and intimidation—could alienate working-class and moderate voters, especially in battleground states.
Critics are also hammering Sen. Van Hollen for flying to El Salvador while refusing to meet with the Morin family—relatives of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old woman raped and murdered in Maryland in 2023 by another illegal alien with alleged MS-13 ties. The crime was described as the most horrific in Harford County history.
“It’s a very fair hit,” the consultant told The Hill. “He’ll fly to El Salvador on taxpayer dollars to meet with a guy accused of gang activity, but he won’t meet with the family of a gang victim in his own state. That says everything you need to know.”
Veteran Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton, echoed the sentiment, warning that elevating someone accused of horrific crimes into a martyr could be disastrous if the allegations are substantiated.
“You don’t make a martyr out of someone when the facts aren’t on your side,” Elleithee told CNN.
Another consultant warned Democrats were “giving the White House and Republicans a lot of visuals” that could be used against them in campaign ads. “The impulse is always to crank the volume up to 11,” they said, “but this is a case where restraint is the smarter move.”
The push to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia appears to be driven by progressive ideological reflex, but strategists fear it comes at the expense of political common sense. With crime, immigration, and public safety emerging as top voter concerns, Democratic operatives worry that this case could become a symbol of the party’s disconnect from the concerns of everyday Americans.
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Speaking of stupid dimwit nitwits! The warning about finding another topic to defend if they can is well said. Defending illegal aliens in any state in the USA is dumber than a box of rocks. As that lovely black gal in illinois said if I remember correctly, “You do not speake for us!”. That goes for the rest of the nation and I am of multinational denomination. Most think I am white but there is a lot of indian in my total mix of races. The USA today is a mix of all.
However I have to add, “Come here legally or do not come at all!”. Living in AZ is am truly fed up with the border invasion. Ship them all back and NEVER EVER AGAIN HAVE THOSE DAMN AMNESTIES. IT ENCOURAGES THEM TO COME AND HIDE TO JUST WAIT UNTIL ANOTHER FOOL GIVES THEM A FREE PASS. MOST IMMEDIATELY STEAL JOBS, RUN OFF THE LOCALS WHO USE TO DO THE JOBS IN THE FIELDS, FAST FOOD PLACES, ETC.. SHIP THEM ALL HOME AND THOSE HIDING THEM NEED TO BE TRIALED AND JAILED TO END THIS ALL. PUNISHMENT FOR FRAUDLENT VOTING, ALL OF IT HAS TO HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES!