WASHINGTON — Despite being denied an official visit to El Salvador to visit a man who was deported there from the U.S. last month, a group of Democrats arrived in the Central American country on Monday morning to lead their own trip.
A group of four House Democrats — including Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., and Maxine Dexter, D-Ore. — made the surprise visit in an attempt “to pressure the Trump administration” to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return in accordance with a recent Supreme Court ruling, the lawmakers wrote in a press release. The unofficial visit comes after the group last week requested House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., to organize a congressional delegation to El Salvador, which was denied.
“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” Garcia said in a statement. “That is why we’re here — to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America. We are demanding the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court decision and give Kilmar and the other migrants mistakenly sent to El Salvador due process in the United States.”
Despite being denied the congressional delegation, which would have allowed the lawmakers to use taxpayer money to pay for transportation, the lawmakers went ahead with plans to visit the country on their own dime. The group noted the trip was “not being financed by taxpayer dollars,” although it’s not clear how much money the group spent from their own pockets or if it was partially covered by campaign funds.
While in El Salvador, the lawmakers will meet with officials at the U.S. embassy and advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release. It’s not clear if the Democrats will be permitted to see Abrego Garcia or to visit the prison where he is being held.
The White House accused Democrats of hosting an “apology tour for a deported illegal immigrant gang member,” releasing a statement on Monday that criticized the trip.
“Today, four more Democrats ... are in El Salvador, picking up their party’s mantle of prioritizing a deported illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member over the Americans they represent,” the White House said in a press release.
Other GOP leaders followed suit, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., claiming the trip was part of Democratic efforts to “bring a violent illegal alien and member of MS-13 BACK INTO the United States,” he said, referring to the transnational gang.
“Could the contrast be more clear? House Republicans remain committed to doing everything we can to protect American families and keep dangerous gang members OUT of our country,” Johnson said in a post on X.
That contrast is likely to become a political flashpoint in the coming months as Republicans accuse Democrats of being anti-American while Democrats claim the Trump administration is ignoring due process and judicial orders that run contrary to the president’s agenda.
The trip comes after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was the first Democrat to travel to El Salvador last week and visit with Abrego Garcia outside the prison. When Van Hollen returned, he told reporters that Abrego Garcia was “traumatized” from his imprisonment.
“He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways,” Van Hollen said in reference to CECOT, a high-security prison known for holding terrorists.
Abrego Garcia has since been moved to another detention center where “conditions are better,” Van Hollen said.
Abrego Garcia, who is from El Salvador, was first notified that his immigration status had been changed on March 12, after ICE agents apprehended him to ask about possible gang affiliations. At the time, Abrego Garcia held “withholding from removal” status, meaning he was approved to stay in the U.S. due to dangers he said he would face if returned to his home country.
Days later, Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador — a move that the Justice Department said occurred because of an “administrative error.”
Since then, the Supreme Court issued a ruling this month that the Trump administration must “facilitate” his release, although top U.S. officials have said they lack the jurisdiction to do so. Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he cannot return Abrego Garcia to the United States, and he has denied releasing him from prison.
The Justice Department has defended its actions, releasing records from the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland documenting Abrego Garcia’s arrest in 2019 over suspicion of entering the country illegally.
The document also cites testimony from a redacted source “who has provided truthful accurate information in the past,” claiming Abrego Garcia was “validated as a member” of the MS-13 gang. Additional court records from 2021 show Abrego Garcia’s wife filed a protective order, accusing him of physical attacks.
Several other Democrats have pressed for official CODELs to visit the prison, but top Republican leaders have said they would deny those requests.
“There is no excuse for Democrats to waste taxpayer dollars visiting and defending a transnational gang member and reported domestic abuser,” Rep. Mark Green, Republican chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement last week. “If Democrats care so much about defending this individual, they can use their own personal credit cards — not taxpayers’ money — to virtue-signal to their radical base.”