White House border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration followed the law when it detained and deported suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.
Mr. Homan said in a pretaped interview broadcast Sunday that President Trump is abiding by the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and the more limited due process rights it affords illegal immigrants.
“We have followed the Constitution and we have followed the law,” Mr. Homan said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The length of due process is not the same under the Alien Enemies Act. “That is why the Alien Enemies Act was created,” he said. “President Trump invoked the authorities he had under the Alien Enemies Act — an act written and passed by Congress and signed by a president.”
“I’m not arguing over here that nobody should get due process,” he said. “I am just saying there is a different process under the Alien Enemies Act.”
Mr. Homan also questioned why Mr. Van Hollen was so focused on this case after turning a blind eye to the surge of illegal immigrants that came into the country under President Biden, which, he said, led to a spike in sex trafficking, the murders of innocent Americans and a steady flow of fentanyl that has killed over 100,000 since 2023.
“What shocks me is that he remained silent on the travesty that happened on our southern border, many people died, thousands of people died,” Mr. Homan said.
Mr. Abrego Garcia has become a central figure in the Trump administration’s push to oust violent migrants from the United States. The Trump administration has labeled him an “MS-13 terrorist,” and an immigration judge previously found him to be a member of the gang based on a confidential police source that identified him by his gang nickname and rank.
Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case received more attention late last week after Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland traveled to El Salvador to meet with him.
Mr. Van Hollen and Democrats say the Trump administration has violated Mr. Abrego Garcia’s Fifth Amendment due process rights. On Sunday, Mr. Van Hollen said he did not ask Mr. Abrego Garcia whether he was a member of MS-13, and said the Trump administration must bring him back to the United States and prove his gang ties in court.
Mr. Homan panned Mr. Van Hollen’s trip.
“What bothers me more than that is a U.S. senator traveling to El Salvador on the taxpayer dime to meet with an MS-13 gang member, public safety threat, terrorist,” Mr. Homan said.
The deportation push has sparked a fierce legal battle over whether the Trump administration is affording migrants their due process under the law.
The Supreme Court ruled this month that the Trump administration could deport Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. They said the Venezuela migrants who have been detained must be granted advanced notice and the chance to challenge their deportation before they are removed from the country.
On Saturday, the Supreme Court weighed in again, temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting suspected Venezuelan gang members.
“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the court said.
On Sunday, Mr. Homan said the Trump administration will continue to follow the law.
“I am not an attorney. I am not litigating this case,” Mr. Homan said, referring to Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case. “We will do whatever the law says we have to do.”
“I stand by the fact, I think, we did the right thing here,” he said. “We removed a public safety threat, a national security threat, a violent gang member from the United States.
