Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said she was “personally invited” to meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele after the Central American leader trolled her Democratic colleague for meeting with an alleged MS-13 gangbanger.
Paulina Luna posted on X Tuesday that “unlike Senator Van Hollen, who drank margaritas with a cartel member,” she and Bukele “will be discussing strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing shared commitments to safety, freedom, and national pride as well as discussing our commitments to continuing to fight for human rights.”
“Thank you President Bukele for standing firm against organized crime. I look forward to seeing you,” she wrote.
Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen visited alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, in El Salvador last week to advocate for his return to the US after he was deported by the Trump administration.
At the time, Bukele quipped on X that Abrego Garcia, who had been living in the Old Line State when he was deported, had “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ and ‘torture,’” and was “sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”
President Trump used the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport Abrego Garcia along with 260 other reputed gangbangers without a hearing.
Several federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the US after learning his deportation was the result of a “clerical error.”
Attorneys representing Abrego Garcia assert the illegal migrant has no criminal history to justify his removal from the US.
Justice Department lawyers have argued they’re complying with the orders to return Abrego Garcia by removing any obstacles existing in the US that would prevent his return, but say they can’t force the Salvadoran government to bring him back.
The Trump administration says Abrego Garcia had a rap sheet in the US.
Documents released last week showed that Abrego Garcia was suspected of human trafficking after he was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on Dec. 1, 2022, for speeding and found to have eight others in the car.
The responding officer grew suspicious of Abrego Garcia and his eight passengers after finding they had no luggage despite having been on the road for three days traveling from Texas to Maryland.
Abrego Garcia told the officer he was bound for Temple Hills, Maryland, “to bring in people to perform construction work,” according to the memo.
The officer let the group go, only issuing a citation against Abrego Garcia for driving with an expired license.
Abrego Garcia was detained by Maryland cops in 2019 after he was found hanging out with confirmed MS-13 gangbangers in a Home Depot parking lot, according to documents released by the Department of Justice.
At the time, a “past proven and reliable source” told a Hyattsville City Police Department detective that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13’s Western clique who carried the rank of “Chequeo” and the nickname “Chele,” according to a gang field interview sheet.
The Salvadoran citizen was also wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie with rolls of cash covering the eyes, ears and mouths of the presidents on the different denominations, which is “indicative of the Hispanic gang culture,” during his arrest.
“Wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents that they are a member in good standing with the MS-13,” the police report read.
ICE later took Abrego Garcia into custody. An immigration judge then blocked his deportation to El Salvador in October 2019, saying he was at risk of retaliation from Barrio 18 gangbangers.
Abrego Garcia was also previously accused of physically abusing his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a US citizen who has been fiercely pushing for his return.
The woman asked a Maryland court to grant her a protective order against Abrego Garcia in 2021 after he allegedly punched, scratched, grabbed and bruised her, according to court documents.
His wife told The Post last week that she was merely “acting out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar … in case things escalated” after surviving domestic abuse “in a previous relationship.”
“Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling,” she said.
“Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect.”
Abrego Garcia’s wife also said that Abrego Garcia’s alleged abuse “is not justification for ICE’s actions of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation.”
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