Sharing the image directly from the Oval Office, Trump issued a statement condemning efforts by Democrat leaders and activist groups to advocate for Garcia’s return to the United States. “This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person,’” Trump declared.

“They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The image undercuts claims made by Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who had posted a TikTok video promoting a GoFundMe fundraiser while intentionally cropping Garcia’s left hand out of a photo, an omission that now appears designed to conceal the visible gang markings.

Conservative lawmakers and officials sharply criticized Democrats and the mainstream media for their portrayal of Garcia as a harmless family man. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who visited Garcia in prison in El Salvador earlier this month, was photographed smiling with the inmate during the visit, further intensifying public backlash.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller condemned Van Hollen’s actions, stating, “Rachel Morin was viciously beaten, brutally raped, and murdered—and her mother never even got a phone call from Senator Van Hollen. Or Kayla Hamilton, a young girl who was attacked in a public restaurant, raped in the bathroom, and beaten to death—murdered by an illegal alien that Joe Biden set free into the country.”

Miller continued, “None of those people elicit human sympathy from Senator Van Hollen. How broken is that man’s heart? How broken is his conscience, that he doesn’t have even an ounce of empathy, or time, or concern to share with those families? His heart is reserved for an illegal alien who’s a member of a foreign terrorist organization. I’m beyond appalled.”

Garcia’s deportation has been at the center of a broader national debate over the Trump administration’s renewed use of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the removal of foreign gang members with ties to transnational criminal organizations. The administration has repeatedly cited judicial findings, gang unit investigations, and Garcia’s own visible tattoos as evidence of his affiliation with MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The controversy continues as the White House insists on prioritizing citizen safety and enforcing immigration laws, despite mounting opposition from Democrat lawmakers and activist groups advocating on behalf of deported criminal aliens.