A Michigan congressman introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump this week, calling for accountability as the Trump administration has failed to repatriate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was wrongly deported to El Salvador last month.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment on Monday.
Why It Matters
Trump was impeached twice during his first term but acquitted by the U.S. Senate both times.
The latest call for Trump’s impeachment comes as Abrego Garcia’s case has sparked widespread criticism from legal experts and immigrants rights advocates who say his abrupt deportation and detention at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador, violated Abrego Garcia’s due process rights.
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who has been living in Maryland since 2005. While the Trump administration has accused him of having ties to the violent MS-13 gang, he has no criminal convictions and a judge previously ordered that he not be removed to El Salvador because he could face persecution from local gangs, as Newsweek previously reported.
What To Know
“Donald Trump has already done real damage to our democracy. But defying a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court Ruling? That has to be the final straw,” Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan said in a video posted to his website Monday.
Thanedar was referring to a recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.
The Democratic lawmaker’s announcement comes as Trump heads to Michigan, a state he won twice, for a rally celebrating his 100th day in office in his second term.
Thanedar said in his video that the courts have decided Abrego Garcia is entitled to return and get due process. Meanwhile, both the Trump administration and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, have said they do not have the power to bring him back to the U.S.
Who is Shri Thanedar?
“I have just introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump,” Thanedar said in his post on X Monday.
He added: “Donald Trump is not above the law, and when he ignores the constitution, he should be held accountable.”
Thanedar represents Michigan’s 13th congressional district, which includes parts of Wayne County and Detroit. He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023. Before that, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives.
The Democratic lawmaker immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1972 in pursuit of his higher education, according to Thanedar’s website. In a press release Monday, Thanedar accused Trump of “a sweeping abuse of power, flagrant violations of the Constitution, and acts of tyranny that undermine American democracy and threaten the rule of law.”
In February, Democratic Representative Al Green also said he would introduce articles of impeachment against Trump, alleging “dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.”
Green was the first lawmaker to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump in his first term.
Trump was the third president to be impeached, following Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. He is the only U.S. president who has been impeached twice. There is no limit to how many times a president can be impeached.
What People Are Saying
Thanedar said in his Monday statement: “Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unfit to serve as President and represents a clear and present danger to our nation’s constitution and our democracy. His unlawful actions have subverted the justice system, violated the separation of powers, and placed personal power and self-interest above public service. We cannot wait for more damage to be done. Congress must act.”
What Happens Next
Both the House and the Senate are controlled by the Republican Party, meaning Thanedar’s efforts to impeach the president will almost certainly fail.
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