A new survey shows that while three-quarters of Americans (73%) have heard about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, beliefs about the details of his circumstances vary widely. Also, 26% believe his deportation was justified, while 45% think it was unjustified; 29% are unsure.
For many facts about Garcia, few Americans have both heard of his case and know the truth. Most people are aware that Garcia is being detained in a prison in El Salvador (61% say this is true). 42% say he was deported due to an administrative error — a claim initially made by the Trump administration — and 34% believe it is true that he was legally allowed to live in the U.S. at the time of his deportation. Only 17% believe he has been given due process.
Around half (52%) of Americans say it is true that the Supreme Court ordered the U.S. to facilitate Garcia's release from El Salvador, and 45% say the government is not complying with this order.
Many Americans know that Garcia's wife and children are U.S. citizens (45% say this is true) and that he has lived in Maryland for over a decade (41%). Fewer are aware that he is a citizen of El Salvador (37%) or that he illegally immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager (33%).
Around one-quarter of Americans believe Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang (23%) or has tattoos symbolizing MS-13 (25%); neither of these claims have been verified. 17% believe that he has been convicted of a crime in the U.S. and the same share (17%) believe he is a terrorist.
Majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree that Garcia is being held in an El Salvador prison, but disagree on most other details about him asked about in the poll.
Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to believe false claims that Garcia has tattoos symbolizing MS-13 (51% vs. 8%), is a member of the MS-13 gang (47% vs. 7%), is a terrorist (36% vs. 4%), and has been convicted of a crime in the U.S. (32% vs. 9%).
Republicans are less likely than Democrats to accurately believe that Garcia was legally allowed to be living in the U.S. (20% vs. 52%) and that his deportation resulted from an administrative error (58% vs. 30%).
Fewer Republicans than Democrats are aware that Garcia lived in Maryland for more than a decade (43% vs. 58%) and that his wife and children are U.S. citizens (39% vs. 50%). Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to know that Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador (53% vs. 27%) and that he illegally immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager (49% vs. 24%).
Many Americans (39%) see MS-13 as either an immediate and serious threat to the U.S., and somewhat fewer (27%) say the same about Tren de Aragua, the other gang targeted by recent Trump administration orders.
By 53% to 21%, Americans believe the Trump administration should comply with the Supreme Court’s order to facilitate Garcia's release from El Salvador. The vast majority of Democrats (84%) think the administration should comply. More Republicans think the administration shouldn't comply (43%) than think it should (25%)
By 49% to 11%, Americans expect the Trump administration will not comply with the Supreme Court's orders. Many people (40%) are not sure. More Democrats and Republicans think it won't comply than think it will.
There is a great deal of uncertainty regarding how the Supreme Court will respond if the Trump administration doesn't comply with its order to facilitate Garcia's return. 22% of Americans think that in this situation, the Supreme Court would force the administration to comply with its order and 26% think it would not. Half (52%) of Americans aren't sure.
Many Americans (40%) aren't sure whether the government of El Salvador would be willing to release Garcia if the Trump administration were to request it do so; 33% think it would release him and 28% think it wouldn't. By 41% to 34%, Americans say that if Garcia is released from the prison in El Salvador, he should be allowed to return to the U.S.
More Americans say the U.S. government should not be able to send immigrants to be detained indefinitely in foreign prisons than say it should be able to (45% vs. 30%). Opposition is stronger in the case of American citizens: 68% oppose the government being able to detain them indefinitely abroad while 12% say doing so should be allowed.
Majorities of Democrats are opposed to the detention abroad of immigrants to the U.S. (75%) and American citizens (82%). Most Republicans (61%) oppose detaining American citizens in foreign prisons indefinitely, but a majority (61%) say the government should be able to do so for immigrants.
Only 7% of Americans think it's very or somewhat likely that they personally will end up detained indefinitely in a foreign prison as a result of the U.S. sending them into detention. About twice as many — 16% — think this is likely to happen to someone they know. Hispanic Americans and Democrats are more likely than other groups to think it's likely that they or someone they know will be detained abroad indefinitely.
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted April 22 - 25, 2025 among 1,133 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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