More Dems land in El Salvador to support alleged wife-beating MS-13 gangbanger

Four Democrats landed Monday in El Salvador in support of a deported illegal migrant accused of beating his wife and being an MS-13 gang member.

Democrat Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Maxine Dexter of Oregon traveled to the Central American country to demand the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, according to a press release by the lawmakers. The trip is the latest back-and-forth between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats, who have vehemently demanded Abrego Garcia be brought back into 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,” Frost claimed in a prepared statement. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump’s latest victim.”

“We cannot and will not let Donald Trump get away with this,” Frost continued.

The congressional trip follows a recent visit by Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who was able to speak with Abrego Garcia in person and has vowed to keep fighting for his return.

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who previously entered the U.S. unlawfully, was among more than 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran nationals deported out of the country in March and sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison built by President Nayib Bukele to house his country’s gang population and other heinous criminals. While the Trump administration acknowledged in court filings that his deportation was the result of a clerical error — a withholding of removal prohibited his repatriation back to El Salvador — the White House has stood by his removal due to his alleged gang ties and other alleged criminal activity.

After illegally entering the U.S. in 2011, Abrego Garcia settled in Maryland and met Jennifer Vasquez Sura, an American citizen. His issues with law enforcement began in 2019 when he was arrested by the Prince George’s County Police Department and credibly accused by an informant of having MS-13 gang member ties. He was later transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and ordered deported by an immigration judge.

Sura and Abrego Garcia got married in 2019 while he was in ICE detainment, according to court records.

Although ordered to be deported by immigration judge, Abrego Garcia was ultimately successful in obtaining a withholding of removal, which barred his repatriation to El Salvador and allowed him to work in the U.S. The withholding of removal benefit allowed him to remain in the U.S. and obtain work privileges — until he was arrested by ICE agents on March 15 and transferred to CECOT.

The Trump administration’s admission that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was the result of error triggered immense backlash from Democrats, who have now made his removal a cause célèbre among their party.

Van Hollen visited El Salvador earlier in April, first meeting with the country’s vice president and later scoring a sit-down meeting with Abrego Garcia himself. The four House Democrats followed up with their own visit Monday, saying their trip was self-funded because House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer “refused to approve” taxpayer dollars to pay for their trip.

The Trump administration has taken its own steps to push back against the criticism.

The White House on Wednesday released a dossier on Abrego Garcia’s alleged gang ties, publishing the Prince George’s County Police interview, immigration court rulings and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) alien record highlighting his membership in MS-13. The dossier included statements from a law enforcement source, which identified Abrego Garcia’s gang rank and nickname.

DHS also released a domestic violence restraining order previously sought by Abrego Garcia’s wife in 2021. Despite currently fighting for his return, Sura once claimed that her husband repeatedly became aggressive and hurt her during their marriage, swearing in court documents that he once “punched, scratched me on my left eye, leaving me bleeding,” among other alleged beat downs.

The Trump administration also hosted Patty Morin at the White House during Van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador. Morin’s daughter was raped and killed by an illegal immigrant in 2023 while she was hiking at a local Maryland trail. Morin — a Maryland resident herself — expressed grief that Van Hollen would go through so much effort to help an illegal migrant while never once offering to help search for her daughter’s killer or reaching out to her family.

DHS also confirmed to the Daily Caller that Abrego Garcia was stopped in December 2022 on suspicion of human trafficking. During a December 2022 traffic stop by a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer, the Salvadoran national was discovered to be transporting eight passengers across the U.S. He allegedly did not have a valid driver’s license and was believed to be trafficking the passengers, but was let go at the request of the FBI.

The administration also highlighted distinctive tattoos on Abrego Garcia’s left hand, which they purport to mark affiliation with MS-13. He has a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross and a skull tattooed across his fingers.

This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such “a fine and innocent person.” They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found… pic.twitter.com/31sNr2k1SK

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2025

Bukele has stated that he will not be returning Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. In court filings released Sunday, a State Department official said that he is no longer in CECOT, but now in “a room of his own with a bed and furniture, and that he was not in a cell.”

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