WASHINGTON — Days after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., met with a wrongly deported man in El Salvador to check on his wellbeing, four more Congress members are in the country Monday as part of a pressure campaign to secure Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release.

Last month, immigration officials took Abrego Garcia into custody, claiming he was a member of the violent MS-13 gang, and deported him to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center.

What You Need To Know

  • Four Democratic Representatives are in El Salvador as part of a pressure campaign to secure Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from prison

  • Last month, immigration officials took Abrego Garcia into custody, claiming he was a member of the violent MS-13-gang, and deported him to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center

  • The Trump administration initially said Abrego Garcia's detention was an administrative error but has refused to bring him back to the U.S. despite a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return

  • Monday's congressional visit follows Sen. Chris Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador last week, where he met with Abrego Garcia

After initially saying Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an administrative error, the Trump administration has refused to bring him back to the United States despite a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return. 

“Trump is defying the Supreme Court to bring him home," Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote on X from El Salvador Monday morning. "We know others are being deported and held with no due process. This must end.” 

Garcia is in the Central American country with Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz.; Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore.; and Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

“Donald Trump and his administration are running a government-funded kidnapping program — illegally arresting, jailing and deporting innocent people with zero due process,” Frost said in a statement Monday. “As members of congress, it is our responsibility to hold the president and administration accountable for defying the constitution of the United States.”

On Friday, the House chairman for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform refused a request from Reps. Garcia and Frost to pay for their El Salvador visit. On Monday, the representatives confirmed their trip was not financed with taxpayer dollars.

“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,” Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter to the congressmen. “I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested.”

Abrego Garcia's lawyers and wife have insisted he is not a member of MS-13, and he has not been charged with any gang-related crimes.

Earlier this month, a group of Democratic Congress members said they planned to visit the prison in El Salvador where Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported last month. Sen. Van Hollen was the first to visit Abrego Garcia — a native of El Salvador who came to the United States when he was 16 and who was granted protection by a judge from being deported back to El Salvador over fears of gang persecution.

“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,” Abrego Garcia’s family wrote in a statement Monday that Rep. Garcia posted on X. “We are particularly concerned about Kilmar’s health and hope to receive news about that from the visit. Their presence sends a powerful message: the fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over.”