Democrats find their lost unity for a tough fight ahead

Congressional Democrats are finding a fighting spirit as Donald Trump and his administration defy court orders to return a wrongfully-deported man. Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador, which the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department have admitted was an error, remains one of the biggest issues in Washington. A growing number of Democrats and legal experts now have the same prognosis: America is in a “constitutional crisis”, as the White House and broader federal government ignore court orders to facilitate the return of a man officials have now spent days accusing, without a shred of real evidence, of being a gang member. And for the most part, the Democratic Party is unified — and finally finding a voice.

Leaders of the opposition party came out this week with forceful statements demanding the Trump administration comply with the courts. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Wednesday, joined a handful of other Democratic senators in announcing that he’d place a hold on the administration’s nominees for two key US attorney positions. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose chamber is not involved in the nomination process, took his own stand at a press conference in Brooklyn.

“The Trump administration has acknowledged [that Garcia’s deportation was committed in error] and so they need to comply with the Supreme Court’s directive or the Supreme Court needs to enforce its order aggressively, which should include contempt,” said the House Democratic leader.

An official Twitter account for the House Democratic caucus and a whole host of other Democratic lawmakers have now released statements on the issue of Abrego Garcia’s deportation as well — a moment of (mostly) unity for the party which fractured in January with the passage of the Laken Riley Act and again in March in the face of a battle over a government shutdown.

“Ask yourself-what’s going to stop the government from deporting you to a prison in El Salvador?” wrote Jim McGovern, the senior Democrat on the powerful Rules committee. “The people get it. Either everyone has due process-or nobody does.”

Even John Fetterman, an outlier in his party after breaking with Democrats — hard — on both support for the scale and ferocity of the Israeli assault on Gaza as well as the Laken Riley Act, found that elusive cohesion with his caucus.

“The Supreme Court made a unanimous decision, saying the lower Court’s order “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release,” wrote the Pennsylvania senator. “Calling on the White House to follow this directive.”

Chris Van Hollen, of Garcia’s home state, apparently understood the assignment. He reportedly drew a standing ovation at his own town hall Tuesday evening by announcing a visit to El Salvador to attempt to speak with Abrego Garcia, then did so the very next day. Other Democrats are seeking a full congressional delegation from the House. They may push ahead with a visit even if Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t approve it.

I just landed in San Salvador a little while ago, and I look forward to meeting with the team at the US embassy to discuss the release of Abrego Garcia.I also hope to meet with Salvadoran officials and with Kilmar himself. He was illegally abducted and needs to come home.

The party’s unification around Abrego Garcia’s case has pushed any dissenting voices underground. One of them, identified only as a centrist House Democrat, aired a very dismissive complaint to Axios on Wednesday, while referring to yet another wrongful deportation case: “Rather than talking about the tariff policy and the economy ... the thing where his numbers are tanking, we’re going to go take the bait for one hairdresser.” With those few exceptions in mind, Democrats seem to be meeting the moment, spurred by enraged activist groups and voters alike.

But there’s one big question on the minds of those who are looking to see who emerges as the party’s next standard bearer. Two, actually: Where is Joe? Where is Kamala?

Both Democrats who ran for president in 2024 have largely dropped off the face of the earth since that disastrous November drubbing at the hands of Donald Trump. Joe Biden gave his first big speech since leaving office on Tuesday - he appeared tired, and stumbled through his speech at times, and couldn’t attack Trump by name. His address did not touch on the administration’s deportations. With his political career behind him, however, few are expecting a fiery Biden to emerge to rally the troops.

It’s Kamala Harris whose silence is more surprising. Despite her well-reported future political ambitions, the ex-vice president has not said a word about Abrego Garcia on social media, has largely ceased holding public events for the time being, and has had nothing to say about the “constitutional crisis” which her former peers in Congress now say the US faces. Once again, Harris finds herself at the center of accusations that her party’s sense of urgency does not meet its own rhetoric.