Four House Democrats traveled to El Salvador on Monday to pressure President Nayib Bukele and the Trump administration to release Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland resident who was deported last month despite a federal court order protecting him from removal.
But after being denied access to Ábrego García during their visit, the lawmakers said they were now demanding the Trump administration produce “daily proof of life,” as well as access to counsel and his immediate release.
“Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter just as of 30 minutes ago to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Ábrego García,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, one of the House Democrats who traveled to the Central American country, at a press conference on Monday afternoon. “And of course, finally, demanding his safe return home.”
The visit by the delegation—which included Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, and Ansari—is the latest effort by Democrats to bring attention to Ábrego García’s case, which some legal scholars say has brought the U.S. to the brink of a constitutional crisis. The Supreme Court this month ordered the federal government to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return to the United States, but the Trump administration has declined to do so, citing lack of jurisdiction.
The Democratic lawmakers said their request to see Ábrego García was denied by the Salvadorian government as it was not an official trip, though they did meet with the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador.
“There is no reason for me to believe that the Trump administration is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home,” Ansari said. “And that is simply unacceptable.”
The visit follows one last week by Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who after two days of negotiations was permitted to meet briefly with Ábrego García. Van Hollen described Ábrego García as “traumatized” from being held at the notorious CECOT maximum-security prison, where Bukele’s government houses alleged terrorists and gang members. Van Hollen said Ábrego García has since been transferred to a less severe detention center.
But the photo of that encounter—showing Van Hollen and Ábrego García speaking across a table—has come under scrutiny from Democrats and his family’s legal team, who now question whether it was a staged photo opportunity by the Bukele government. “We know nothing of Mr. Ábrego García’s whereabouts since the staged photo op on Thursday,” said Chris Newman, the attorney representing his family, at Monday’s press conference. “Unfortunately, we are no longer able to trust the representations about this case made either by the United States government or by the Salvadorian government.”
Ábrego García was deported on March 15, one of over 200 individuals swept up in a mass deportation order by the Trump administration. The administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to justify expedited removals, despite widespread legal challenges and mounting bipartisan concern over its use outside of wartime.
Though Ábrego García entered the U.S. illegally years ago, a judge in 2019 granted him “withholding of removal” status, after determining that his fears of persecution if he were returned to El Salvador were credible. Nonetheless, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported him in March in what the Justice Department initially described as an “administrative error.”
Since then, both a federal judge and the U.S. Supreme Court have affirmed that the government must help bring him back—a mandate that administration officials say they cannot fulfill without El Salvador’s cooperation.
“If this can happen to Ábrego García it can happen to people from Venezuela…our constituents, and any day now, it can happen to citizens, because the President himself said that in the Oval Office,” Frost said. “This is a front to our laws, and that’s why we’re here.”
Read More: Can a U.S. Citizen Be Deported? Trump’s Comments Raise Legal Alarms
Republican leaders have accused Democrats of defending criminals, pointing to unverified allegations that Ábrego García is tied to MS-13. The White House referred to the Democrats’ visit as an “apology tour for a deported illegal immigrant gang member.”
“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.
Yet the only evidence produced linking Ábrego García to gang activity is a 2019 police report that has long been questioned in court. His family and attorneys have denied the claims, and judges reviewing his case have repeatedly upheld protections for him.
Court documents reviewed by TIME found that Trump’s administration had a chance to challenge Ábrego García’s protection from deportation during his first term, but didn’t take it.
Frost said their visit was in part to ensure that the public doesn’t forget about the Trump administration’s deportations: “They do so much to make sure people forget about them breaking the law, forget about them completely ignoring the Supreme Court,” he said.
Democrats at the press conference also raised concerns about Andry José Hernández Romero, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker deported to El Salvador after the Trump administration accused him of gang affiliations based solely on his tattoos. Romero, a gay makeup artist, fled Venezuela fearing persecution and legally applied for asylum through a U.S. government app. “We know that he has had no gang affiliations that anyone is aware of, or that they presented in a court of law,” Garcia said. “This is our plea to the Embassy here—confirm that he is alive.”
The Democratic lawmakers say they requested an official congressional delegation (CODEL) to visit both men, but House Oversight Chair James Comer and Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, both Republicans, denied the request, citing costs and accusing Democrats of defending gang members. “No Democrat has been allowed to go [on official delegations],” Garcia said. “There have been CODELs that have just been Republican members of Congress only.”
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Ábrego García, said in a statement that she was “deeply grateful” that four members of Congress had arrived in the country to push for her husband’s release from prison, and that she was concerned about his health. “Their presence sends a powerful message: The fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over,” she said, adding, “We need Congress to keep showing up.”
Frost added that more lawmakers will be visiting El Salvador soon to keep a spotlight on the issue. “We’re not going to be the last members of Congress and senators that are here to make sure that he’s released,” he said. “The book is not closed on our Constitution and our laws—no matter what Donald Trump says.”
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