Democrats clash over how hard to fight Trump's deportations
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President Trump during an Easter prayer service in the Blue Room of the White House on April 16. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Democrats are at odds over whether to make opposition to the Trump administration's deportation policies — and trips to the El Salvadorian prison where deportees are being held — a centerpiece of their anti-Trump message.
Why it matters: Some Democratic lawmakers and aides told Axios that Trump's deportation policies have even started to eclipse top issues like DOGE and tariffs in some constituent phone calls and emails.
- "We got 247 calls on it this week, more than any other topic," Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) told Axios.
- A chief of staff to another House Democrat told Axios that, of the 16 calls they personally handled in the last two days, all have been about deportations.
Yes, but: Other lawmakers insisted the issue hasn't broken through in their districts. While some of them said they support their colleagues who are trying to travel to El Salvador, others pushed back on the idea.
- A House Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Axios: "With all due respect to some of those folks, I know it's an important issue, but should it be the big issue for Democrats? Probably not."
- "I think we ought to focus on the basic things that affect people on a day-to-day basis — I'm sure in Maryland it's a big issue," the lawmaker said, citing DOGE cuts, tariffs and Social Security as issues to home in on.
- Another House Democrat previously told Axios the issue is a "soup du jour" and a "trap" for their party, saying their colleagues should not "take the bait for one hairdresser."
State of play: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Wednesday became the first Democrat to travel to El Salvador to try to meet with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an erroneously deported Maryland resident whose return the Supreme Court has ordered.
- Van Hollen said El Salvadorian officials denied him access to the country's notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo.
- President Trump and El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele have refused to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from CECOT and return to the U.S. despite the court order.
Zoom out: Multiple other Democratic lawmakers are attempting to organize official congressional delegations, or CODELs, to the country. The most recent was Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), as Axios first reported.
- Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) have requested GOP authorization to lead a CODEL, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) planning one himself.
- But the second House Democrat who spoke to Axios anonymously said politically vulnerable members are less likely to go on these trips, citing Republican attacks on Democrats who are traveling to El Salvador.
- "Trump is setting a trap for us. ... Maybe that doesn't matter in a [Democrat]-plus-30 district, but you're not going see any front-liners down in El Salvador," the lawmaker said.
Zoom in: The divisions have even trickled down to lawmakers' staffs, multiple Democratic aides told Axios.
- Communications staffers have debated in meetings whether to remain solely focused on economic issues or include deportations in the party's messaging, the aides said.
- Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), who represents the district where Garcia lived, told Axios there is even division among his constituents: "I'll be candid, I've got people in my district who ... would be okay with sending these guys out."
The intrigue: Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), a battleground-district lawmaker, said in a statement to Axios that she is "hearing from constituents every day who are alarmed by what they're seeing" on deportations.
- "When a president openly defies a unanimous Supreme Court ruling, it is no longer an immigration issue but a constitutional crisis that threatens our democratic institutions," she said.
- Said Ivey: "It's an issue of constitutional magnitude that we, as a nation, can't afford to ignore."
