U.S. Reps. Dexter, Garcia, Frost, Ansari Arrive in El Salvador to Pressure Trump Administration To Abide By Supreme Court Order And Facilitate Return of Wrongly Deported Maryland Man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Media release from the office of Congresswoman Maxine Dexter, M.D.
San Salvador, El Salvador – Today, Monday, April 21, U.S. Representatives Maxine Dexter, Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, and Yassamin Ansari arrived in El Salvador to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man with protected legal status who was unlawfully deported by the Trump Administration. Abrego Garcia is currently detained in El Salvador despite having no criminal conviction in the United States, a direct violation of due process protected by the Constitution.
The Congressional members are in El Salvador to bring attention to President Trump’s illegal defiance of the binding and unanimous Supreme Court decision in Noem v. Abrego Garcia that demands the Administration facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and due process in the United States. This visit comes after the Trump Administration admitted that Abrego Garcia’s detention was an “error” but refused to abide by a federal judge and the Supreme Court’s orders to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return home. Members will also advocate for other detainees who are being held without due process.
This trip is not being financed by taxpayer dollars and comes after Chairman James Comer refused to approve Garcia and Frost’s request for an official CODEL.
“What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare — it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” said Congresswoman Maxine Dexter. “We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored. We will be loud in demanding that the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court’s decision and uphold the rule of law. Because if this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to anyone.”
“While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held illegally in El Salvador after being wrongfully deported,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “That is why we’re here — to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America. We are demanding the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court decision and give Kilmar and the other migrants mistakenly sent to El Salvador due process in the United States.”
“Donald Trump and his Administration are running a government-funded kidnapping program — illegally arresting, jailing, and deporting innocent people with zero due process. Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump’s latest victim,” said Congressman Maxwell Frost. “As Members of Congress it is our responsibility to hold the President and Administration accountable for defying the constitution of the United States. Donald Trump and ICE are not above the law. Today it’s Kilmar, but tomorrow it could be anyone else. We cannot and will not let Donald Trump get away with this.”
“My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people were ‘disappeared’ — I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s illegal abduction and President Trump’s complete disregard of due process and a unanimous Supreme Court ruling are deeply disturbing. We should all be appalled by this treatment by the United States government,” said Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. “I’m in El Salvador to advocate for the Trump Administration to facilitate his safe return home, and make sure Trump’s attack on our Constitution and due process stops now. Trump has already threatened to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to any of us. This is a constitutional crisis."
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