White House post contrasts GOP vs Dems' immigration stance amid deportation fiasco: 'We are not the same'

WASHINGTON, DC: The White House’s social media page once again took shots at the Democrats by sharing a side-by-side image to emphasize the alleged differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party's stance on illegal immigration.

In the grid that the White House shared, one image featured President Donald Trump comforting Patty Morin, the grieving mother of murdered Maryland woman Rachel Morin. 

The other picture was of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen sitting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia during his recent visit to El Salvador to meet the 29-year-old, who was allegedly wrongly deported by the US government in March. 

The post was captioned, "We are not the same," and the Trump White House made sure to tag the Maryland Democrat, as per Fox News. 

White House highlights GOP and Democrats' differing stances on illegal immigration

The White House's post came on the heels of Donald Trump’s meeting with the bereaved Patty Morin at the Oval Office on Wednesday, April 16. Patty's daughter, Rachel Morin, was murdered on a hiking trail in Maryland by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, in 2023. 

The Trump administration is currently embroiled in a controversy over the deportation of Garcia, a Salvadoran who admitted to entering the US illegally in 2012. 

While Garcia was labelled as an MS-13 gang member and a wife-beater by the Republicans, Van Hollen called his deportation "absolutely unjust." Recently, he went to El Salvador to advocate for Garcia’s release.

The image of Trump and Morin was taken on Wednesday, as Patty spoke to Trump, and subsequently to the reporters at the White House briefing room.

Speaking to the media, she noted that Van Holen has never reached out to her after her daughter’s gruesome death. 

"To have a senator from Maryland who didn’t even acknowledge – barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother, and now a grandbaby without a grandmother, so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that is not even an American citizen," said the grieving mother.

Patty continued, "Why does that person have more right than I do for my daughter or my grandchildren? I don’t understand this."

After Rachel’s killer, Martinez-Hernandez, was convicted of her murder, Van Hollen, nevertheless, vowed to bolster border security while expressing support for "our immigrant communities."

Regarding Garcia, whom he met on Thursday, April 17, the senator said that it was "absolutely unjust and illegal to have this Marylander detained one more day in a notorious prison in El Salvador."

Following his meeting, he also shared the image of him with Garcia, writing, "I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."

Garcia, who was residing in Maryland with his family, was deported to El Salvador's mega-prison Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) last month.

Despite federal officials acknowledging that his deportation was an "administrative error" during a court proceeding and the Supreme Court ordering the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the US, the president and his top officials have doubled down on the decision and refused to retrieve Garcia from El Salvador.

Internet divided over White House's post

As the White House shared the side-by-side photo, the Internet was left divided in opinions. While a section of netizens slammed Senator Chris Van Hollen for siding with the deported man, another section blasted the president for "exploiting" a woman's suffering to justify taking away people's rights.

One said, "What a powerful message. The fact is that Chris Van Hollen is on the wrong end of this message. If you are from Maryland, I would encourage you to Primary the hell out of this guy. He needs to focus on the US citizens in Maryland, not playing photo ops."

"That’s right. In the photo on the left, you're exploring a woman's suffering to justify taking away people's rights. In the photo on the right, a man is showing real empathy—fighting to protect everyone's rights," another wrote. 

A person noted, "You’re right. On the left is a 'man' exploiting a mother to score political points. On the right is a man fighting for the rights of a man the Trump administration wrongly deported. Big difference."

"Why do Dems care more about criminal gang members than American citizens?" asked someone else. 

Another person pointed out, "There is nothing the same about these pictures. Two different issues, two different tragedies! One does not negate the other! Please do better @WhiteHouse!"

"We paid for them to have a political photo op on the taxpayer's dime again. This should come out of their pocket," castigated another person. 

"And thank God for it. I am glad to see the president of the United States takes more concern about victims than the murderers," a Trump supporter wrote. 

"Thank goodness we are not the same! Democrats are just INSANE!!!" one more echoed. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.