Democrats are trying to bypass the Trump administration and work directly with El Salvador to bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., who was mistakenly deported to a prison there.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat said Wednesday that he plans to write to El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, to formally ask for Abrego Garcia’s release and for a request to speak with or visit the Maryland father. If Bukele doesn’t respond by next week, when he’s set to visit the U.S., Espaillat said he would confront him in person.
“We know that there are no charges against him. There are no charges here and there are no charges in El Salvador,” said Espaillat, who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “We believe fundamentally that that is illegal, illegal here and illegal there.”
Espaillat and other lawmakers from the Hispanic Caucus and Maryland delegation were joined by members of Abrego Garcia’s family to urge for his release. Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said her husband “was abducted and disappeared by the Trump administration” on March 12.
“It’s been 28 days since I last saw my husband,” she said. “The Trump administration and the Bukele administration continues to delay the reunification of my family. This so-called administration error has destroyed my family’s happiness.”
Abrego Garcia, who was born in El Salvador, was living in Maryland before he was swept up in the Trump administration’s deportations to an infamous prison there last month. The administration admitted the removal happened due to an error; Abrego Garcia was barred from going back to El Salvador because a judge previously held that he would likely fall victim to gang violence if he returned. Abrego Garcia has no criminal record, but the Trump administration has claimed he’s a member of the gang MS-13, something his family says is untrue.
Lawmakers are limited in what they can do to bring Abrego Garcia back to his family in the U.S., and the Trump administration has also insisted it lacks power to do so. His family’s legal fight to force the administration to return him to the U.S. is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Democrats have said they won’t rest at just waiting on the courts, although they said they hope they rule in Abrego Garcia’s favor.
“This is something that is so reprehensible that we will fight back in the courts, and we’ll fight back in Congress, we’ll fight back in our communities,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said. “But right now, of course, this is in the courts.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez and other Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the Salvadoran prison Abrego Garcia was sent to and allegations of human rights abuses there. Other than that, they are hoping to see more public outcry directed at Abrego Garcia’s situation.
“We have to continue to demand transparency, demand answers, demand to see the evidence, but we need more Americans to stand with us,” Rep. Veronica Escobar said. “Not just in this room, not just in Washington, D.C., but across the country.”
In response to a question about how members expected their efforts to change the situation, Espaillat pointed to Abrego Garcia’s wife, who spoke earlier.
“When you hear a mother speak about what is happening in her home, with her children, because her husband and the father of her children is not there, I think that moves this nation,” he said. “This is an American story, a great story to be told. I don’t see how it cannot change anybody’s heart.”
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.