White House adviser Stephen Miller on Wednesday pushed back at Fox News host Bill Hemmer’s characterization of the Supreme Court ruling requiring the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of a deported Maryland man now indefinitely detained in El Salvador, insisting the administration had actually “won” the case.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker who had lived in the U.S. for 14 years, was arrested in Baltimore on March 12 after picking up his five-year-old son over his past ties to the terrorist-designated MS-13 gang. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later admitted in court that his removal was the result of an “administrative error.”
Despite this, the Trump administration maintains it is under no legal obligation to bring him back, especially after the Justice Department released records proving his past association with the gang.
In a court brief filed Sunday, Justice Department attorneys argued that the court has no authority to compel the president or federal agencies to act, citing the executive branch’s control over foreign policy.
On Monday, as Miller appeared on America’s Newsroom, host Bill Hemmer recapped the case, noting that Abrego Garcia was “mistakenly” deported — prompting Miller to immediately push back, accusing Hemmer of getting it “all wrong.”
“I want to correct that. I hate to do it, Bill. I have to correct you on everything you said. It was all wrong,” Miller began.
“First, we won the Supreme Court case, clearly, 9-0. A District Court judge said unconscionably the president and his administration have to go into El Salvador and extradite one of their citizens. That would be kidnapping. We have to kidnap an El Salvador citizen against the will of his government and fly him back to America. An unimaginable invasion of El Salvador,” Miller added.
“We appealed to the Supreme Court and said clearly no District Court can compel the president to exercise his Article II foreign powers in any way whatsoever. DOJ called me after the Supreme Court ruling and said: ‘It is amazing we won the case 9-0, we are in excellent standing here,’” Miller continued.
“It has been portrayed wrong for 72 hours in the media. They said the most a court can ever compel you to do is facilitate return, which means if El Salvador voluntarily sends him back we wouldn’t block him in the airport, we would put him back in ICE detention and then he would be deported back to El Salvador or somewhere else,” Miller said. “The Supreme Court said that’s the most the government can be expected to do. So, we won the case. The misreporting on this has been atrocious.”
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Miller insisted that the claim Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported originated from a now-terminated Justice Department employee who, he noted, was a Democrat, in correcting the record.
“He was not mistakenly sent to El Salvador. He was an illegal alien from El Salvador. In 2019 he was ordered deported. He has a final removal order from the United States. These are things that no one disputes. Where is he from? El Salvador. A resident and citizen of? El Salvador. Is he here illegally? Yes. Does he have a deportation order? Yes,” Miller continued.
“A DOJ Lawyer who has been relieved of duty, a saboteur, a Democrat put into a filing, incorrectly, that this was a mistaken removal. It was not. It was the right person sent to the right place,” he added.
Hemmer eventually managed to cut in, asking: “I want to ask you a question. Are you convinced he is still a member of MS-13? Your original charge.”
“Yes. But here is the thing, Bill. Yes, not only am I convinced of it, not only is El Salvador convinced of it,” Miller replied before adding: “He is an illegal alien from El Salvador with a deportation order! So, his only options in life, Bill, his only options in life, are to be deported to El Salvador or to be deported to some other country. That’s it. He has a deportation order.”