A House Republican slammed the Maryland dad wrongly deported to El Salvador as a “potential terrorist” during a Wednesday interview.
Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Dan Meuser told Fox Business host Cheryl Casone he couldn’t understand the furor over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to a Salvadorian mega-prison in March, citing a 2019 police report that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released on Wednesday that claims he was a member of the MS-13 gang.
“Birds of a feather flock together,” Meuser said.
Abrego Garcia was deported to the mega-prison because of an “administrative error,” the Trump administration admitted, prompting the Supreme Court to order the government to “facilitate” his return to the United States. But Trump has defied the courts and refused to bring him back. Now, his MAGA-lytes are making the media rounds to decry the dad of three as a dangerous gang member.
On Fox News, Meuser claimed Abrego Garcia’s arrest record in the United States—which resulted in no criminal charges—warranted his departure.
“We have a United States senator and a bunch of knuckleheads in the House that now say their main priority is bringing back someone,” Meuser said. “Maybe he’s not a terrorist, but he’s a potential terrorist. He’s a terrorist watch-list person. They want to bring him back?”
An administrative judge in immigration court ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia was affiliated with the MS-13 gang based on a confidential informant’s testimony. But the judge declined to deport Abrego Garcia because he would face persecution back home, and Abrego Garcia has denied any gang affiliation; his attorneys have called the evidence “whispers and shadows.”
To further smear Abrego Garcia, on Wednesday DHS released a 2021 police report that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed that alleged he repeatedly hit her. She said on Thursday that the two “were able to work through this situation privately as a family” and has called for his release.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed Abrego Garcia was a “verified” member of MS-13, which the State Department in February labeled a foreign terrorist organization.
President Donald Trump has refused to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., saying he is now in the hands of a sovereign nation. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said last week that the idea he would return Abrego Garcia was “preposterous.”
Democrats have demanded Abrego Garcia’s return. Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with him, but the Salvadoran government denied his request.
“The Democrats once again are showing how out of touch they are and where their priorities are not in line with 95 percent of Americans,” Meuser said on Thursday.
Van Hollen met with Salvadorian Vice President Félix Ulloa on Tuesday to try to secure Abrego Garcia’s release. He said Ulloa told him the country could not return Abrego Garcia because “the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador to keep him” at the prison.
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