Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains a leftist cause célèbre as the Democrats pull out every step possible to stop him from being deported to a safe third country by the Trump Administration, and so it is worth reviewing how the Democrats first framed him as a hero and then awkwardly and desperately tried to backpedal once his horrible history of serious crimes was revealed.
For reference, Garcia is an alleged human trafficker, wife beater, and MS-13-connected gangster who was living in Maryland as of the spring of 2025, when the Trump Administration arrested him and tried deporting him to El Salvador as part of its crackdown on MS-13. That has since sparked a major fight between it and leftist groups, including the Democratic Party, as the left alleges Garcia is being unfairly deported. That legal fight is still ongoing in Maryland.
Over the course of the saga of Kilmar’s arrest and attempted deportation, multiple disclosures about his horrible history have made Democrats who defended them squirm. Amongst those who was caught on live TV in a very embarrassing moment stemming from the situation was Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), who tried to backtrack after CNN host Jake Tapper noted that Kilmar was accused of being a wife-beater.
Such came on Friday, May 2, when Sen. Padilla appeared on CNN’s “The Lead” to discuss Kilmar’s case, and ended up having to answer some serious questions about who the Democrats were lining up behind. Caught in the embarrassing predicament, he insisted that they were fighting against the process that was trying to deport Kilmar, not necessary for Kilmar himself.
Broaching the matter, show host Jake Tapper noted, “Senator, since the deportation of Abrego Garcia, we’ve learned a lot more about him and the alleged abuse towards his wife. USA Today obtained audio of his wife from a court hearing in 2020, asking a judge for protection against Abrego Garcia. ”
Continuing, he noted that the allegations are serious, and asked why the Democrats are defending such a nasty individual. He said, “Now, since then, she’s backed off that. But the police report and that audio stand. Should Democrats, do you think, continue to push for this specific individual’s return from El Salvador, or maybe the situation is more complicated than it initially seemed?”
That was a very embarrassing question to the senator, who just weeks before had insisted, contrary to the soon to be revealed evidence of his horrible history of abuse and trafficking, that Garcia was “a family man, a husband, a father, a resident of Maryland for more than 15 years, in the apprenticeship program for the sheet metal workers’ union”.
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Responding by trying to backpedal his way out of the very embarrassing situation, Sen. Padilla sa “I appreciate the question, but whether you’re talking to me, whether you’re talking to Sen. Van Hollen (D-MD), or any other one of our colleagues, I think our advocacy here has a little bit less to do with him individually and more the process, the process and the fact — the lack of due process that this administration continues to act with.”
He added, “The laws are clear in this country. Even if you are undocumented, you have the right to due process, whether it’s Kilmar himself, whether it’s women, whether it’s children, whether it’s United States citizen children that have been deported to other countries with a lack of due process, that, in and of itself, is problematic.”
Concluding, he insisted, contrary to his past claims and comments in defense of Garcia, “And so, that’s the really biggest concern that we have here. It’s not just the numbers, but the cruelty and the lack of due process that this administration keeps acting with.”
Watch it here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video