Deportees from the U.S. are pictured at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 15, 2025. (El Salvador's Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)The deportation of a Salvadoran immigrant has become a legal flashpoint and highlights the bitter partisan divide in Washington.by Matthew Rusling, Xiong MaolingWASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The deportation of a Salvadoran immigrant has sparked a clash between Democrats and Republicans over the White House's policies on illegal immigration.Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported to his home country last month and placed in a maximum-security prison, despite a 2019 ruling from an immigration judge that allowed him to stay in the United States.Lawyers for the U.S. government have acknowledged that his deportation was an "administrative error," and the Supreme Court has upheld a judge's ruling that required the U.S. government to "facilitate" his release from prison.However, the administration later adopted a different tone by depicting Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang and a citizen of El Salvador, and said that he will "never live" in the United States again.Abrego Garcia, a father of three who works in construction, denies the allegation. He has not been convicted of any crimes in the United States.The deportation has become a legal flashpoint and highlights the bitter partisan divide in Washington."Immigration is a hot-button issue in the United States with lots of divisions regarding how to handle those who came into the country illegally," said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.Senator Chris Van Hollen, who represents Maryland, where Abrego Garcia was living before deportation, traveled to El Salvador last week and met with Abrego Garcia in prison.Trump blasted Van Hollen on Friday, writing on social media that the Senator "looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention."On Monday, four House Democrats traveled to Salvador to push for Abrego Garcia's release and raise awareness for what they call a "constitutional crisis."The deportation occurs at a time when Trump has begun the mass deportation of individuals living illegally in the United States.Court documents found that Abrego Garcia admitted that he entered the United States illegally in 2012, local media reported.The allegations of his connection to MS-13 stem from his arrest in 2019, according to a CBS report. Court documents show that he was arrested outside a Home Depot with three other men, at least two of whom had suspected gang ties.Police noted that he was wearing a hoodie with symbols that they said were indicative of gang culture, the report said. A source police had previously used also reported that he was an active MS-13 member, according to court documents.Protesters gather during a rally outside the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, April 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)Protests erupted in front of the White House over the weekend, with demonstrators holding a variety of handmade signs, including "Stop illegal deportations!" "The constitutional crisis is here!" among others.Mrs. Wood, who drove over three hours from Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to join the protest, told Xinhua that the Trump administration's deportation of illegal immigrants lacked due process, and everyone should have the opportunity to defend themselves in court.The administration claims that those being deported are criminals, yet some were arrested simply for having tattoos, she said. "They're picking on people of color. It is totally racist ... It's white supremacy all the way."Critics accused the Trump administration of flouting the authority of the courts."The administration's position since it came into office is that whenever it is ruled against, this will be reversed by the Supreme Court anyway, so it need not follow what the lower court said," said Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland."With the Garcia case, the administration went to the Supreme Court, did not get what they wanted, and now are stonewalling and lying about their non-compliance," Ramsay said."So, this is the test case regarding the administration's actual, not just stated, theory of presidential power. They do not intend to be constrained by the Supreme Court," he said.Trump, meanwhile, defended the administration's approach on Monday. "I'm doing what I was elected to do, remove criminals from our Country, but the Courts don't seem to want me to do that," he said in a post on Truth Social."We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years," he said.