SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom praised a California congressman for trying to intervene on behalf of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a week after he was criticized by his fellow Democrats for calling the fervor over Garcia’s wrongful deportation to El Salvador a “distraction.”

Newsom asked supporters Thursday to donate on behalf of Rep. Robert Garcia’s reelection campaign, saying he “made California proud” and “deserves our thanks” for flying to try and meet with Abrego Garcia, whom immigration officials initially deported on accident from Maryland to a Salvadoran prison known for human rights abuses. The U.S. Supreme Court and a federal judge found that immigration officials violated Abrego Garcia’s right to due process and have ordered him returned the U.S., which the White House is resisting.

Garcia was first elected in 2022 to represent the 42nd U.S. Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles County and the city of Long Beach. He and Democratic Reps. Yassamin Ansari, Maxine Dexter and Maxwell Frost all traveled to El Salvador Monday, but were denied a chance to meet with Abrego Garcia.

“I don’t think anyone trusts the Trump administration to run around the country scooping people off the streets and sending them to foreign prisons without some kind of court hearing to prove they are who the administration says they are,” Newsom said in an email sent from his Campaign For Democracy political action committee, which he uses to fundraise for Democrats nationally.

“(Trump) is just blatantly and objectively defying the courts, the rule of law, and our system of checks and balances. Congressman Garcia’s visit helped to highlight ALL OF THIS and it’s one of the reasons Trump’s approval rating is sinking like a stone — even on the issue of immigration.”

Newsom, who is believed to be considering his own run for national office in 2028, told reporters last week that focusing on Abrego Garcia’s deportation “distracted” from President Donald Trump’s decision to implement a series of unpopular tariffs that economists predict will spikes prices on most household goods.

“(Republicans) don’t want to have a real conversation ... (about) what’s going on in terms of the export uncertainty here in the (Central) Valley, they want to have this conversation,” Newsom said during a press conference in Modesto. “Don’t get distracted by distractions. We’re all perfect sheep.”

Democrats such as U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who flew to meet with Abrego Garcia advocating for his release, and the liberal “Pod Save America” show, which Newsom frequently appears on, criticized him. Host Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama aide, called his response “cowardly, calculating and ... ridiculous.”

Newsom’s office later clarified in an email that he was referring to Trump’s dubious claims that Abrego Garcia is a domestic abuser and purported gang member as a distraction. The governor has asked Homeland Security to return to the U.S. a deported Venezuelan man who sought asylum in San Diego last year.

The White House has claimed without evidence that Garcia, who was in the U.S. on a “withholding of removal” order, is a member of the MS-13 gang and a domestic abuser and that it cannot return him without Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s approval.

Abrego Garcia’s wife, who is a U.S. citizen, has since fled their home after the Department of Justice published her address online. Bukele also claims he cannot return Abrego Garcia and will not abide by the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to do so.

When Trump retook office in November, Newsom initially took a circumspect approach after leading the liberal resistance against him during his first term, claiming he was eschewing “virtual signaling.”

The governor told reporters Thursday at a press conference at McLellan Air Force Base in Sacramento that he has increasingly taken more combative stances when he believes Trump is challenging “fundamental” California principles.

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