Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-OR) said she plans to visit El Salvador to demand the release of a deported Salvadoran national, whose deportation to the country was an “administrative error,” according to a Justice Department filing.
Dexter’s announcement Friday came the same day Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) returned from El Salvador after meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deported Salvadoran national at the center of a legal saga over his deportation.
The Oregon congresswoman claimed Abrego Garcia “has had his due process rights ripped away and is now being held indefinitely in a foreign prison,” in a statement announcing her intentions to visit the Central American country.
“This is not just one family’s nightmare; it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us. I will travel to El Salvador to confront this crisis head-on. Our constitutional rights are on the line,” she added.
Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant, was deported to El Salvador last month, despite a “withholding order” preventing him from being deported to El Salvador over fear of future prosecution by a gang in that country.
He still has a deportation order and did not have legal permission to remain in the U.S., per court filings. The Department of Homeland Security has claimed Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the federal government.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the federal government must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. and continue with his deportation case “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” The Justice Department and a federal judge have sparred over the definition of what it means to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and if the U.S. government has done enough.
Despite pleas from Democrats, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has repeatedly said he will not release Abrego Garcia from El Salvador.
TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS PHOTO OF ABREGO GARCIA’S KNUCKLES WITH APPARENT MS-13 TATTOOS
Following Van Hollen’s lead, several House Democrats have asked different Republican House committee chairmen to authorize congressional trips to El Salvador. Both House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) have denied requests from Democrats.
“It is absurd that you both displayed active hostility for over two years toward the Committee’s oversight of the Biden Border Crisis and the consequences of millions of illegal aliens entering the country, yet now, you are seeking travel at Committee expense to meet with foreign gang members,” Comer said in a letter denying the request.
