Joe Rogan is calling foul on President Trump’s mass deportation push.
“There’s still people coming through, and there’s probably still people coming through that are criminals,” the podcaster said on Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “But the thing is that you gotta get scared that people who are not criminal are getting, like, lassoed up and deported and sent to like El Salvador prisons.”
Mr. Rogan, in conversation with comedian Francis Foster and political commentator Konstantin Kisin, referenced reports that migrants without criminal records have been deported under Mr. Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act.
NBC News reported that deported Venezuelans have included a gay makeup artist, a professional soccer player and a barber — all allegedly swept up in raids targeting gang members.
“It’s horrific. It’s horrific,” Mr. Rogan said of the group.
Among those removed was Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has gained a liberal following since he’s the father of a 5-year-old and husband to a U.S. citizen.
SEE ALSO: White House says Marylander deported to El Salvador was MS-13 leader
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt punched back, saying, “This individual was an MS-13 ringleader. This individual was also engaged in human trafficking. If you just saw the headline from the insane, failing Atlantic magazine this morning, you’d think this individual was the Father of the Year living in Maryland, living a peaceful life, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The White House also told USA Today, “President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to secure our borders and mass deport criminal illegal migrants. … Our immigration laws will be enforced and must be respected.”
Vice President J.D. Vance posted on X that Mr. Abrego Garcia is a convicted member of MS-13. He said the judge who allowed him to stay in the U.S. relied on evidence gathered by Prince George’s County police during his initial detention five years ago.
Mr. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys countered by saying Prince George’s County police relied on weak evidence — such as the Marylander’s decision to wear a Chicago Bulls jersey — in order to tie him to the violent international gang.
In their own court filing, defense attorneys also said an informant’s accusation that Mr. Abrego Garcia was part of an MS-13 branch in Long Island, New York, was faulty because he never lived in the state.
• Matt Delaney contributed to this report.
