After Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., returned from El Salvador, four Democrats in the House of Representatives passed in the night to continue his mission to pressure the release of deportee Kilmar Garcia, who had been living in the Old Line State.
Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., and Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., said Monday they had arrived in San Salvador, the capital, while deportee Garcia, an accused MS-13 gang member, was moved to a less-stringent detention center than the infamous CECOT he was first housed in.
In a statement released Monday via Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the deportee’s wife, Jennifer Garcia, said, “We’re deeply grateful to the members of Congress and advocates for justice now on the ground in El Salvador, building on the leadership of Senator Van Hollen.”
“Their presence sends a powerful message: the fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., center, joined by Garcia family members after returning to the U.S. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“I’m fighting for Kilmar and for all the other Kilmars, who have been unjustly deported without due process. We need Congress to keep showing up, both here and abroad, until justice is served and the rights of everyone are protected,” Jennifer said.
In a joint press release, the Democrat lawmakers said their request to have their trip financed by taxpayers was refused by House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
A representative for Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the freshman lawmaker would be taking a trip to El Salvador to essentially aid Van Hollen’s efforts.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be home in Maryland right now,” Ansari said in a separate statement. “His illegal abduction and the subsequent complete dismissal of the Supreme Court ruling is deeply disturbing. Our rights shouldn’t be revoked to propagate Trump’s authoritarian agenda. This is a constitutional crisis.”
Reps. Maxine Dexter, Robert Garcia and Maxwell A. Frost traveled to El Salvador. (Getty)
In their letter to Comer, Frost and Garcia wrote that deportee Garcia, “a Salvadoran national legally living and working in Maryland, was subject to a 2019 withholding order from an immigration judge prohibiting his removal to El Salvador.”
Additionally, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is also reportedly planning to travel to CECOT, according to reports from Politico and Axios. His office did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s office for comment, and whether other lawmakers had contacted him seeking CODEL authorization.
“Squad” member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., also wrote to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., demanding her own CODEL to El Salvador, “given that the Administration’s use of CECOT for illegal and unconstitutional deportations is rife with ‘administrative errors.’”
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Sen. Van Hollen, Rep. Garcia, Rep. Frost, Rep. Dexter and Rep. Ansari have all gone to El Salvador. (Fox )
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also suggested to Axios that travel to El Salvador may be necessary.
“We have to do similar kinds of things for the others who are victims of this dystopian attack on our Constitutional rights. This president is dangerous and we can’t let this go,” she said.
Meanwhile, at least two Republicans have traveled to CECOT, albeit for different reasons.
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., tweeted a photo from the prison, saying he just finished a tour and that many inmates were “extremely violent” recent U.S.-deportees.
“I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore said.
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Homeland Security released new documents this week that it says definitively prove Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned at CECOT after his deportation from the U.S., is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny.
Abrego Garcia also allegedly has a record of being a “violent” repeat wife beater, according to records filed in a Prince George’s County, Maryland, district court by his wife.
Fox News Digital reached out to Booker, Frost, Balint, Ramirez and Garcia for further comment.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
