A group of US Democratic lawmakers has traveled to El Salvador to urge the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a US resident who was wrongly deported and remains in prison despite a ruling from the US Supreme Court. The delegation, made up of Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, and Maxine Dexter, is calling out what they see as a serious violation of constitutional rights and due process.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland, where he had lived with his wife and child, and sent to El Salvador last month along with hundreds of other migrants. This was done after former President Donald Trump invoked a rare wartime authority to fast-track deportations. Abrego Garcia’s removal was later acknowledged by the administration as an “administrative error,” and the Supreme Court ruled that the government must help bring him back to the United States. However, no action has been taken to return him.
“There’s no evidence that the Trump administration is doing anything to bring him back,” said Ansari during a press briefing in San Salvador. She emphasized that this situation is not only about one person but reflects a broader issue of how immigrants are being treated. “This is simply unacceptable,” she said.
Congressman Frost echoed her concerns, saying, “This is about every single person in the United States. Due process applies to all.” He criticized the lack of action and transparency, noting that Salvadoran authorities refused the lawmakers’ request to meet with Abrego Garcia.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who visited El Salvador days earlier, was eventually able to meet with Abrego Garcia after several attempts. According to reports, Abrego was first imprisoned in the infamous Terrorism Confinement Center but has since been moved to a different jail in Santa Ana.
Despite international pressure, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has refused to return Abrego Garcia. Over the weekend, Bukele even suggested a prisoner exchange with Venezuela, offering to send the Venezuelans deported with Abrego Garcia back home in return for political prisoners held by President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro quickly fired back, calling Bukele a “serial violator of human rights.”
Meanwhile, Trump continues to defend the deportation, claiming Abrego Garcia is a gang member. This is despite the Supreme Court’s ruling and clear evidence that Garcia held legal protected status in the US and had no criminal record.
Lawmakers are framing the case as a constitutional crisis. “My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people disappeared. I refuse to watch that happen in the US,” said Ansari. Congresswoman Maxine Dexter added that this case should alarm all Americans, stressing that it’s not just one family’s nightmare but a challenge to constitutional rights.