MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend raised alarms over the potential broader implications of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions following the mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, suggesting that "people of color will be next."
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old undocumented immigrant living in Maryland, was removed to El Salvador and placed in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in mid-March, sparking a national debate after government officials acknowledged the deportation was "an administrative error". The incident led to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordering the government to facilitate the return of Abrego García, an order which the administration has not complied with.
Speaking on her show, The Weekend, Sanders-Townsend argued that the stakes extend far beyond one individual case. "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 said. "To be very clear, it's going to be the people of color, and vulnerable communities that are next in line."
The host went on cite an op-ed by NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Janai Nelson, who warned that the administration's actions are part of a broader erosion of democratic norms. The op-ed argued that what appears to be targeted immigration enforcement could lay the groundwork for broader civil rights violations.
"But to me, that is why Kilmar Abrego Garcia's specific case, the case of the gentleman who's a make-up artist out of California who was also sent to that prison— the 75% of the folks who have been sent, the men who have been sent there that don't have criminal records — that is why this is so important," the MSNBC host continued.
NEW: MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend says, "People of color are next in line" for deportation
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) April 22, 2025
'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'
'To be very clear: It's going to be... pic.twitter.com/bJdBzOlPfQ
Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat from Maryland, joined Sanders-Townsend in the discussion and echoed her concerns: "That's certainly part of why the African-American community is so strongly behind supporting Kilmar," he said. "If they are going to whisk them away, what are they going to do with us?"
The conversation took place shortly after the Supreme Court issued a temporary block on the Trump administration's effort to deport Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime statute invoked to justify mass deportations of alleged gang affiliates, such as members of the Tren de Aragua gang
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