Rep. Henry Cuellar is pushing back against his own party over its stance on immigration, criticizing fellow Democrats for defending an illegal immigrant the Trump administration says is a violent MS-13 gang member. 

“This is not the right issue to talk about due process. This is not the right case. This is not the right person to be saying that we need to bring him back to the United States,” Cuellar, D-Texas, told “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio. 

Cuellar was referring to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant deported in March to a prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration alleges that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the violent MS-13 gang and publicized court documents for a protective order from his wife. Some Democrats argue that he was denied due process and are demanding his return. 

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said in a recent statement that she had been acting out of caution by seeking a protective order. 

“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution following a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order, in case things escalated,” she said in part. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”

Cuellar said making Abrego Garcia the face of immigration advocacy damages the party’s credibility with voters. 

DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE

“Democrats should not take this issue,” Cuellar said. “When you look at immigration, is this the immigration case you want to take to fight on? In my opinion, absolutely no.” 

Democratic lawmakers are challenging the administration’s deportation policies, including flights sending suspected criminal illegal migrants back to Central America. Several lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release and requested daily proof of life for him.  

HOUSE DEMS DEMAND ‘PROOF OF LIFE’ OF ABREGO GARCIA AFTER BEING DENIED MEETING IN EL SALVADOR

Abrego Garcia crossed the U.S. border illegally, but later attempted to obtain protected legal status while living in Maryland. 

His 2025 deportation was described in court as an administrative error. However, some Trump officials say the removal was justified, citing his alleged gang ties. 

Cuellar, whose South Texas district includes a substantial Latino population, said he hears growing frustration from constituents about what they see as an inconsistent and unfair immigration system. 

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks to the media about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, accompanied by Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., left, at a hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Monday, April 21. (AP/Salvador Melendez)

“People were saying, ‘Our parents came in the legal way. They came in, became legal residents,’ and, ‘They came in and did it the right way.’ But when you see people jumping in, not knowing who they are,” he said. “That’s something wrong.” 

Cuellar also expressed support for certain Trump-era border policies, particularly regarding security and enforcement. He dismissed previous Democratic claims that the border was secure. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., center, accompanied by Cesar Abrego Garcia, from left, Cecilia Garcia and Jennifer Vasquez Sura, speaks during a news conference upon his arrival from meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Friday, April 18, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“It was laughable when they would say that the border was secured,” he said. “Why are we going to let people in when you have no idea who these people are, and then let them roam the streets of the United States while you wait four or five years for an immigration court hearing? That was wrong, absolutely wrong.” 

While Cuellar said he wouldn’t judge fellow Democrats for their choices, he questioned the party’s broader strategy on immigration and noted that some of the Trump administration’s policies were having an impact.

“The president has gotten Mexico to engage a lot more, if he can get them to play defense on their under 20-yard line instead of our 1-yard line called the U.S. border, then the better it is,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to face legal challenges over its immigration agenda. The Supreme Court is set to hear a case in May involving federal judges who blocked an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. 

Two speedboat racers are lucky to be alive after a terrifying crash at Lake Havasu in Arizona on Saturday in which their vessel went flipping and flying through the air before slamming back onto the surface of the water.

The frightening scene was captured on video as the speedboat was attempting to break a 206-mph speed record on the lake. It happened during an event called  Desert Storm Shugrue’s Shootout.

In the video, the white 10,000-horsepower boat was seen cruising at a high speed on the lake’s surface while being followed by a helicopter with a camera attached to the bottom.

The vessel appeared to be skipping like a stone when the front of it tilted just enough for the wind to pick it up, causing the boat to backflip completely.

2 TEEN GIRLS KILLED AFTER JET SKI CRASHES INTO BOAT IN ILLINOIS

But the wild ride did not end there. In fact, the boat remained in the air and turned nearly 360 degrees horizontally before the front corner caught the water as it began to flip vertically once more.

Spectators could be heard on the original video swearing in disbelief at what they had just seen.

FOX 10 in Phoenix reported that both racers on board, who are with Freedom One Racing and go by the aliases John Wayne and Clint Eastwood to hide their identities, walked away from the crash.

The station spoke with Ray Lee of Speedboat Magazine, who said the racing team was hoping to make history over the weekend.

FISHERMAN CATCHES PREHISTORIC-LOOKING ALLIGATOR GAR IN 4-HOUR ‘EPIC BATTLE’

A speedboat crashed after going airborne at Lake Havasu in Arizona, as the operator made a record-breaking attempt at 200 mph. (Credit: Speedboat Magazine)

“It’s a 388 skater and it’s estimated at about 10,000 horsepower,” Lee said. “So, they came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record here for the Desert Storm shootout. That was their first pass of the day and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph.”

Fellow racers told the station that the men on board owe their lives to those who built the boat.

“The last thing you ever want to see is a crash and especially something as horrendous as that,” shootout competitor Jeff Clark said, explaining that going as fast as the men were going can take away a driver’s ability to react. “At that speed, it doesn’t take much, you know, those tunnel holes are built to pack air, so the boat rides on top of the water. You know it’s like on a rail and if you pack up too much and that nose gets too high it’ll just – at that speed – take you airborne.”

He added that his heart dropped when he saw Eastwood and Wayne’s boat go airborne.

3 DEAD, MORE INJURED AFTER BOAT ACCIDENT IN MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING TOURNAMENT: REPORT

The boat flipped multiple times while airborne. (Credit: Speedboat Magazine)

“It’s never something you want to look at when you’re out having fun as a driver, for sure,” Clark said.

Both Lee and Clark said windy conditions may have been a factor in the crash but also may have helped the two men onboard.

Lee told the station that when the boat cut the wind, it caused the vessel to remain airborne longer than if there had not been any substantial wind.

“You hold your breath, and you hold it until you see both racers emerge from the cockpit,” he said. “For the most part, uninjured.”

Since 1963, there have been 11 fatal racing crashes on Lake Havasu, Motorsport Memorial reported, with the deadliest occurring in 2018 when three people died when a boat named “Lickety Split” crashed.

Clark credited safety improvements for keeping the racers inside the vessel safe.

“Those guys are alive for one reason and one reason only: That boat was built not to come apart,” he said. “So, when they were sitting in that cockpit and when you look at pictures of the boats, it’s totally destroyed but the cockpit is in perfect condition. I tip my hat to Skater and the crew that built that boat because it saved that guy’s life, it saved both of their lives, there’s no doubt about it.”

Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., touted his vote against the Laken Riley Act and bashed President Donald Trump’s administration at an April event, saying deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, along with other illegal immigrants, is “testing and stretching the fabric of our democracy to a place we have never seen before.” 

In his speech, Vasquez claimed some said it would take “courage” to vote against the Laken Riley Act, to which the Democratic congressman exclaimed, “I did. I voted against [the bill],” leading the audience to cheer. “Because due process is a fundamental part of who we are as Americans,” he continued.

The Laken Riley Act, which was signed into law by Trump on Jan. 29, was introduced after an illegal immigrant brutally murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley while she was jogging in Athens, Georgia, in February 2024. The law established that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must detain illegal migrants if they are arrested or charged with a violent crime.

CHANCE OF LAKEN RILEY’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT KILLER DOING TIME IN EL SALVADOR PRISON ADDRESSED BY LAWMAKERS

Just a month after the Laken Riley Act was signed into law, Secretary Kristi Noem and DHS announced a “627% increase in monthly arrests compared to just 33,000 at-large arrests under Biden for ALL of last year.”

Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district contains the longest stretch of U.S. land neighboring Mexico, defended the bipartisan bill in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday. 

Gonzales explained that border security is “a real and lasting issue as a result of four years of inaction under President Biden. That’s why Americans voted for safer communities and to restore law and order and President Trump is delivering on that promise with legislation like the Laken Riley Act and much more that is coming down the pike.”

Vasquez went on to bash the Trump administration for deporting illegal migrants, including Abrego Garcia, claiming U.S. citizens aren’t safe from being removed from the country if the Trump administration gets “their way.” 

“Time and time again, out-of-touch Democrat Gabe Vasquez chooses to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the well-being of hardworking New Mexicans,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital. “He’s completely abandoned common sense, pandering to the radical left while betraying the very people who will vote him out of office next year.” 

DEMS RIDICULED FOR GOING ‘ALL IN’ ON SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA 

Rep. Gabe Vasquez attends a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 15, 2024.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Abrego Garcia, who has been the focus of Democratic talking points criticizing Trump’s immigration policies, was one of many illegal immigrants who were deported to the El Salvadorian “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) in March. 

It was most recently revealed that the 29-year-old illegal migrant and suspected member of the violent MS-13 gang was pulled over while driving an SUV that belonged to another illegal immigrant who confessed to human smuggling in 2020. 

While the Trump administration has maintained their position on Abrego Garcia’s gang ties and history of violence, a federal judge and even the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate his return. Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland with his family prior to being sent to El Salvador, on the grounds that his removal to the country was unjustified. 

TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS FILE CHARGES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT AFTER FOX NEWS EXPOSES EARLY RELEASE PLANS

Jose Ibarra, left, was found guilty on 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, right. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

Some Republicans have pushed back at the decision to double down on Abrego Garcia’s stay in El Salvador, including Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, who said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a “screw up.” 

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis gave the DOJ a week’s extension to provide explanation, documentation and testimony defending the decision to deport Abrego Garcia.

Fox News Digital reached out to Vasquez’s office for comment.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston