MSNBC host sparks alarm as she warns who is 'next in line' in Trump's mass deportations

Importance Score: 52 / 100 🔵

MSNBC commentator Symone Sanders-Townsend has sparked controversy with a bold prediction regarding the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Speaking on her program, Sanders-Townsend theorized about who might be “next in line” for deportation, referencing the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran national deported to a controversial detention facility.

Sanders-Townsend’s Deportation Theory

During a segment discussing Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), Sanders-Townsend asserted that “people of color” and “vulnerable communities” would be the next targets of increased deportation efforts under the Trump administration.

The MSNBC host cited an opinion piece by NAACP President Janal Nelson, which criticized the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement and suggested it represented a gradual dismantling of democratic norms.

“To me, that is why Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s specific case… is so important,” Sanders-Townsend stated, mentioning another case and highlighting that “75 percent” of individuals sent to the CECOT facility reportedly lack criminal records.

“Because if they can do it to them, if they can snatch students off the street without any pushback or recourse, they will do it to any of us,” she argued, emphasizing the potential expansion of deportation policies.

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“To be very clear: It’s going to be the people of color and vulnerable communities that are next in line,” Sanders-Townsend concluded.

Glenn Ivey, a Democratic Representative from Maryland, appeared to concur with Sanders-Townsend’s assessment, suggesting the Black community understands the implications, asking, “if they are going to whisk them away, what are they going to do with us?”

Online Criticism and Counterarguments

Sanders-Townsend’s theory faced immediate backlash online. Critics labeled her prediction “absurd.” One social media user jokingly suggested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might target Sanders-Townsend herself first.

Attorney Jonathan Turley commented on the reactions, quipping that “MSNBC hosts are beginning to make the guy in the subway screaming about the microchip in his brain look credible,” in response to the network’s increasing comparisons.

Comparisons to Historical Atrocities

Adding to the controversial commentary, former MSNBC host Chris Matthews drew parallels between Garcia’s deportation and actions taken by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust on a separate program.

“What did Hitler do in the Holocaust?” Matthews questioned, referencing the removal of people from Germany to areas outside German law’s reach.

Host Jim Acosta then invoked the term “El Salvadoran gulag” when mentioning the CECOT facility’s conditions, asking if Trump was adopting a similar “playbook.”

Matthews responded, “Well, it gets them out of the country.”

Online critics swiftly condemned Matthews’ comparison, accusing him of diminishing the Holocaust’s significance by linking it to contemporary immigration enforcement measures.

Pope Francis and Senator Van Hollen’s Involvement

Earlier, on “Morning Joe,” Mika Brzezinski, another MSNBC personality, engaged a Democratic senator to imply the late Pope Francis would have advocated for Garcia’s return to the U.S.

Brzezinski initiated the conversation by referencing Pope Francis’ Easter address, which mentioned contempt directed towards vulnerable groups, including migrants, setting the stage for discussion with Senator Chris Van Hollen.

“And here we are…dealing with the issue of just one of the many people who have been forcibly removed, disappeared. I mean, some might even see it as kidnapping. It’s definitely not a deportation,” Brzezinski stated.

She then questioned Van Hollen about Garcia’s current situation.

Van Hollen responded by citing Pope Francis’ focus on the vulnerable and universal rights, emphasizing “the right of everybody to be free under the law.”

“And the whole point here that we’re making is that the Trump administration needs to respect the Constitution of the United States,” Van Hollen asserted.

“When you threaten the rights of one man like Abrego Garcia, take away the rights of one man like Abrego Garcia, you threaten the rights for everybody,” he concluded.

The Controversy Surrounding Abrego Garcia’s Deportation

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation has become a central point of contention for critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, particularly after the government acknowledged his removal involved an “administrative error.”

The Supreme Court has reportedly requested the Trump administration to facilitate Garcia’s return to the United States.

However, the White House maintains its stance, alleging Garcia is an MS-13 gang member with a history of domestic violence accusations.

Supporters of stricter immigration enforcement have also pointed to Garcia’s alleged involvement in a human smuggling incident in 2022, although he has not been criminally charged.

Garcia was initially slated for deportation in 2019, but a judge blocked his removal to El Salvador due to concerns about MS-13 threats against him.

The court permitted deportation to an alternate location, which ultimately led to his current detention at the CECOT supermax prison.

Detention Facility and International Reactions

Garcia arrived at the CECOT facility, which has drawn condemnation from human rights organizations and comparisons to a “modern-day gulag,” on March 15, transported on one of three flights from the U.S.

Senator Van Hollen visited Garcia at the facility and shared a photo of their meeting on social media, stating he had also contacted Garcia’s wife in the U.S.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele responded with his own images of the meeting shortly before Van Hollen’s post, adopting a more combative tone and dismissing concerns about Garcia’s well-being.

Bukele’s post sarcastically described Garcia as “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture,'” suggesting he was now enjoying “margaritas” in El Salvador.

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