The Libertarian Party of Travis County, Texas, has passed a resolution calling for President Donald Trump to be impeached, accusing him of issuing “lawless, dictatorial pronouncements” that “violate the constitutional separation of powers.”
The resolution cited the Trump administration’s inability to get Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned from an El Salvadoran prison, threats to send American citizens to foreign prisons and its deportation of legal U.S. residents “due to their political viewpoints.”
Newsweek contacted the Libertarian Party for comment on Wednesday via email outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Over the past few weeks the Trump administration has said it is unable to secure the release of Garcia, a 29-year-old father of two who was deported to a prison in El Salvador in what the Justice Department has termed an “administrative error,” and revoked the visas of foreign students it accuses of holding extremist views, though many deny this.
During a press conference on Monday alongside El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Trump said he would be “all for” sending some criminals with U.S. citizenship to El Salvador, and was recorded saying: “You gotta build about five more places. It’s not big enough.”
In March Staffan Lindberg, who runs the Varieties of Democracy project out of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, warned he might not classify the U.S. as a full democracy in 2026.
What To Know
On Tuesday the Libertarian Party of Travis County passed a resolution calling for “the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump and his removal from office.”
It accused the president of having taken “an oath of office to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’ with no obvious intention of doing so.”
The resolution noted the case of Garcia, who was deported from Maryland to his home country of El Salvador in early April following what the Justice Department called an “administrative error.”
Garcia has been dispatched to a high security prison in El Salvador despite having no criminal convictions. The U.S. government alleges he has links to M3-13, a major crime gang, but Garcia’s wife denies this and his lawyers say the “U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation.”
On April 10 the Supreme Court in a 9-0 ruling ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Garcia to the United States. However on Monday Trump’s team said it didn’t have the power to return him whilst Bukele said: “How can I return him to the United States? Like if I smuggle him into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”
Bukele added “we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists” though Garcia hasn’t been convicted of any offenses in either the U.S. or El Salvador.
The Libertarian Party of Travis County resolution also says Trump “stated that he wants to send U. S. citizens to foreign prisons where they would certainly have no due process of law.” This came after Trump said he would support sending U.S. criminals to El Salvador during his press conference with Bukele on Monday.
According to Inside Higher Ed at least 147 foreign students have had their visas to study in the U.S. revoked by the Trump administration, including individuals involved in pro-Palestinian activism. This was another issue raised in the Libertarian impeachment resolution, which said the Trump administration had targeted “legal U. S. residents for deportation due to their political viewpoints.”
Those the administration is trying to deport include Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, who the Department of Homeland Security accused of “engaging in activities in support of Hamas” though no evidence to this effect was provided.
Trump survived two impeachment attempts during his first term in office.
What People Are Saying
Speaking to Newsweek Ted Brown, a former Libertarian Senate candidate who wrote the Travis County resolution, said: “I was driven to write the resolution due to Trump’s immigration policies. I also particularly oppose his trade policies, but the fundamental human rights violations that have come up in the immigration area have been just too much to handle. The Libertarian Party is a pro-immigration party, and I am very pro-immigrant…
“Now Trump is trying to deport legal residents because of their political views and even wants to deport American citizens. This is not acceptable in any way. We are at the stage where we have to nip this in the bud before it goes any further. The Constitution and Bill of Rights must be upheld and defended, including the rule of law and due process of law. Trump is an authoritarian bully who has no interest in any of those, and hence, he is violating his oath of office and should be removed from it.”
The Libertarian Party of Travis County resolution reads: “Whereas, the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, affirmed by a unanimous U. S. Supreme Court, ruled that the Government must facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.
“Whereas, President Donald J. Trump and members of his administration, admit than an administrative error was made to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to an El Salvadoran prison, yet say there is nothing they can do about it, when in reality, they choose to do nothing about it.
“Whereas, President Donald J. Trump and his administration have violated the constitutional rights of numerous legal U. S. residents by denying them due process of law in challenging deportation orders.
“Whereas, President Donald J. Trump and his administration have targeted legal U. S. residents for deportation due to their political viewpoints, in disregard of the First Amendment.
“Whereas, President Donald J. Trump has falsely used the Alien Act of 1798 and other laws to effectuate removal of legal residents, when he should have known that these laws involve wartime measures, not law enforcement measures.
“Whereas, President Donald J. Trump stated that he wants to send U. S. citizens to foreign prisons where they would certainly have no due process of law.
“Whereas, no one in the U. S. appears to be safe from President Donald J. Trump’s lawless, dictatorial pronouncements that he issues as Executive Orders, which he asserts have force of law when they actually violate the constitutional separation of powers.
“Whereas, the Libertarian Party stands for upholding the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and for respecting the rule of law over dictatorship and tyranny.
“And Whereas, President Donald J. Trump took an oath of office to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’ with no obvious intention of doing so.
“Therefore, be it resolved, that the Libertarian Party of Travis County calls for the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump and his removal from office.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether this resolution will be a one off or whether other Libertarian Party branches will pass similar motions. The Libertarian Party claims to be the third biggest political party in the United States and Trump addressed the Libertarian National Convention in May 2024, though some of the audience booed him.
