Topline
The White House’s Senior Director for Counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, attacked people seeking the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month—and suggested that opposition of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts may be a federal crime, becoming the latest Trump official to go after critics of the administration’s crackdown on immigrants.
White House National Security Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka attends a … More
Key Facts
In an interview on Newsmax on Wednesday night, Gorka echoed other Trump administration officials in labeling Garcia, whose deportation was initially blamed on a “clerical error” and an “oversight,” as a “member of an organization that we recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.”
Gorka insisted that Garcia’s removal was a national security issue, alleging he was a member of the MS13 gang—an allegation Garcia’s attorneys have repeatedly denied.
The counterterrorism advisor then attacked lawmakers who have expressed support for Garcia, saying his deportation was not a “left and right” or “Republican or Democrat” issue but rather “Do you love America, or do you hate America?”
Gorka claimed that Trump and his cabinet “love America” and “want to protect Americans,” while the “other side” was “on the side of the cartel members…terrorists.”
The counterterror advisor then suggested that people opposing the deportation efforts were “technically aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists” and therefore breaking federal law.
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What The Fcc Chair Has Said About News Coverage Of Garcia’s Deportation?
Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, also waded into the controversy surrounding Garcia’s deportation and subsequent imprisonment in El Salvador by accusing the media of being biased on the issue. In a post on X, the Trump appointee appeared to threaten Comcast’s broadcasting license by alleging it was “distorting the news.” Carr wrote: “Comcast outlets spent days misleading the American public—implying that Abrego Garcia was merely a law abiding U.S. citizen, just a regular ‘Maryland man.’ When the truth comes out, they ignore it.” Carr reiterated the Trump administration’s claim that Garcia was “validated as a member of the violent MS13 gang,” something the deported man has never been charged with or convicted of. Carr added, “Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn’t cut it.”
Tangent
Carr’s post reshared a tweet made by White House Communications Director Steven Cheung where he attacked CNN and MSNBC for failing to carry a tearful speech from the White House briefing room made by Patty Morin—the mother of Maryland woman, Rachel Morin, who was killed in 2023 by a Salvadoran migrant who illegally entered the U.S. Morin’s case is unrelated to Garcia’s deportation, but White House officials including Cheung and Stephen Miller have lashed out at CNN and MSNBC for failing to carry Morin’s speech live.
Further Reading
Trump Administration Says It Will Simply Re-Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia If He Is Brought Back To U.S. (Forbes)
Trump Administration Claims It Would Have To ‘Kidnap’ Erroneously Deported Maryland Dad From El Salvador (Forbes)
Trump Administration Likely Committed Criminal Contempt With El Salvador Flights, Judge Rules (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/04/17/trump-advisor-suggests-deportation-critics-are-breaking-the-law-by-aiding-and-abetting-terrorism/