4 More Democrats Travel to El Salvador to Push for Abrego Garcia’s Release

This comes after Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled last week.

Four more Democrats traveled to El Salvador to promote the release of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who is at the heart of the Trump administration’s famous deportation.

US lawmakers Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Maxine Dexter (D-ore.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) arrived in El Salvador on Sunday.

This comes after Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled last week.

At a press conference Monday in the Salvador capital, four representatives and lawyers for Abrego Garcia said they were in El Salvador “requesting his safe return.” The group said they wanted to continue the pressure from authorities for his release and that their petition to meet Abrego Garcia was rejected.

Frost said the representative was at El Salvador to “build a job” for Van Hollen, and under what conditions they were asking where Abrego Garcia was being held.

Chris Newman, the lawyer representing the dispatcher, added that his main concern is access to Abrego Garcia’s lawyers.

“I know nothing about where Abrego Garcia is since I took a phased photo shoot with Sen. Van Hollen on Thursday,” Newman said. “We’ll quickly find out where he is and demand that he have access.”

Chris Newman, a lawyer for the Abrego Garcia family, will speak at a press conference on the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Salvador on April 21, 2025 in Salvador, El Salvador. Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images

Last week, the White House press issued a statement saying it “showed Americans everything they need to know about Democrats’ priorities.”

The White House accused the representatives of “picking up the party’s mantle to prioritize members of the deported illegal immigrant MS-13 gang, over the Americans they represent.”

MS-13 and other international crime gangs were designated as terrorist organisations by the US government earlier this year. Members of such groups were suspected and confirmed illegal immigrants were given priority to deportation by the Trump administration in March.

Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia last week to check on his happiness on behalf of his family and promote his release. The lawmakers were initially denied a visit with Abrego Garcia, but the Maryland Senator was eventually given permission to speak to him and shared photos of their meeting.

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) speaks with Kilmer Abrego Garcia (L) at a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador on April 17, 2025 (Senator Van Hollen, office via the AP) — Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will speak with Kilmer Abrego Garcia (L) at a hotel restaurant in Salvador, El Salvador on April 17, 2025. Senator Van Hollen via the Associated Press

Van Hollen said he was the first lawmaker to visit El Salvador in the incident, suggesting there are more.

Earlier this month, Rep. Garcia and Frost sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Kommer (R-KY.) to request permission from the Congressional delegation to visit the largest security prison in Tecolca, where Abrego Garcia was held.

After Comer refused the request, lawmakers planned their own independent trip.

According to Comer, an official parliamentary delegation trip for this purpose would be a waste of taxpayer money.

“Your request to visit an foreign MS-13 gang member in El Salvadoran in taxpayer dollars has been denied,” the oversight committee wrote in X’s post, sharing Comer’s response to X’s request.

“Respect American money,” Comer said in his letter.

Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “promote” the return of Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia from a Salvador prison to the United States. The Trump administration initially said it had made an “administrative error” when deporting him to his home country, despite the 2019 order preventing him from being deported.

A federal lawyer told court last week that he had no authority to secure Abrego Garcia’s release. El Salvador President Naibe Bukere has publicly stated that he has no intention of returning him.

Abrego Garcia was illegally in the United States and received an exile order before he found the 2019 court order to face danger in El Salvador.

Two separate judges and the Prince George County Police Department have found that he is partnering with the MS-13 gang based on “a proven, reliable source of information from the past.” According to documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the documents, Garcia also wore clothes known to be in gang membership.

He was also questioned by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and was suspected of being involved in human trafficking.

White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said that even if Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States, “he would soon be deported again.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.