Four more Democratic lawmakers have landed in El Salvador as the party ramps up its efforts to secure the release of a Maryland man the Trump administration now admits it erred in deporting.
Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon are demanding the White House abide by a court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. They’re planning to meet with officials at the U.S. embassy in El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release and to get information on other detainees transferred to El Salvador from the U.S.
Frost, in a statement, accused the Trump administration of “running a government-funded kidnapping program — illegally arresting, jailing, and deporting innocent people with zero due process,” of which Abrego Garcia is the “latest victim.”
“What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare — it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” Dexter said in a separate statement. “We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored.”
Their trip follows the high-profile visit from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who traveled to El Salvador last week to meet with Abrego Garcia, and more Democratic lawmakers could follow. Democrats say the Trump administration is denying Abrego Garcia his right of due process, and of plunging the country into a constitutional crisis by ignoring the Supreme Court order to bring him back. President Donald Trump and his allies are continuing to link Abrego Garcia to the MS-13 gang member, even as a federal judge said the Justice Department has offered no evidence to that effect.
House Republicans last week denied Democrats’ requests to send an official delegation to the country, arguing it would “waste taxpayer dollars.” The Democratic lawmakers said they are not using taxpayer dollars to fund their trip.
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