Four more Democrat lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador to advocate for the return of accused MS-13 gang member and alleged wife-beater Kilmar Abrego Garcia, following in the footsteps of Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), and Robert Garcia (D-CA) — who is formerly an illegal immigrant himself — touched down in the Latin American country on Monday “to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia,” a press release announced.
Referring to the Salvadoran national as a “Maryland man” despite his having entered the country illegally over a decade ago, the statement from Ansari’s office went on to say that the House members will “also advocate for other detainees who are being held without due process.”
The press release noted that the latest El Salvador trip was not taxpayer-funded after House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-TN) “refused to approve Garcia and Frost’s request” for an official congressional delegation.
Van Hollen has already come under fire for his own trip to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia, especially after admitting (after he returned to the United States) that it was paid for by taxpayer dollars .
“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 Rep. Ansari, a freshman congresswoman whose parents emigrated from Iran to the United States.
She continued, “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.”
The congresswoman went on to claim, “If this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to any of us. This is a constitutional crisis.”
In a video posted to social media after her arrival, Ansari claimed that she “wants to make sure that Kilmar is still alive,” even though he was spotted outside of detention holding with Van Hollen just days ago:
NEW: @RepYassAnsari posts her first IG video from El Salvador where she and three colleagues hope to shine a light on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s story and keep the pressure on Donald Trump to secure his safe return home. We scooped the trip this AM. Story below. pic.twitter.com/vwwoRBfjVS
— Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) April 21, 2025
Rep. Garcia, who was “undocumented“ when he first arrived to the U.S. from Peru, said he traveled to El Salvador “to remind the American people that kidnapping immigrants and deporting them without due process is not how we do things in America.”
Rep. Frost accused the Trump administration of “running a government-funded kidnapping program,” calling Abrego Garcia “Trump’s latest victim.”
“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,” the Florida progressive added.
Rep. Dexter repeated Ansari’s claim that deportation “can happen to anyone” if it happened to Abrego Garcia, who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified as a member of the violent MS-13 gang and an accused domestic abuser after his wife filed for an order of protection against him.
“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,” the Oregon congresswoman said. “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.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
