Republican United States senator John Kennedy criticised President Donald Trump and his administration for their handling of the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran man wrongly deported by Washington, and for the Republican president's comment that he wanted to deport some violent criminals who are US citizens.
It is not very common for Republican lawmakers to criticise Trump, who took office on January 20 and whose administration's deportation drive is condemned by rights groups as an assault on due process rights.
The Supreme Court has directed the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return after Washington acknowledged he was deported because of an administrative error.
Senator Kennedy of Louisiana was asked on NBC News' "Meet the Press" program if he thought the law allowed Trump to send US citizens who were criminals to foreign prisons.
"No, ma'am. Nor does it, nor should it, nor should it be considered appropriate or moral. We have our own laws," he said.
"We shouldn't send prisoners to foreign countries in my judgment."
The order could result in persecution or even death for its targets, many of whom helped US forces during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, along with their families.
‘Screw up’
Trump has said he wants to deport some violent criminals who are US citizens to Salvadoran prisons, a move experts said would violate US law.
Kennedy said he did not see Abrego Garcia's case as part of a wider pattern but called it a "screw up," adding that Abrego Garcia should have had a hearing before being sent to El Salvador.
"The administration won't admit it, but this was a screw up."
The US government says it does not seek Abrego Garcia's return. His lawyers say he was never charged with a crime and deny US claims he belonged to the criminal gang MS-13.
Separately, the Supreme Court temporarily barred the Trump administration on Saturday from deporting some Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members under a rarely used wartime law.
The plan would strip roughly 50,000 policy-focused civil servants of standard appeal rights and allow agencies to dismiss employees deemed insufficiently aligned with the administration’s agenda.
