WASHINGTON − Two House Democrats are requesting an official Congressional delegation visit to the prison in El Salvador where a Maryland man has been held despite a Supreme Court ruling that he was wrongly deported.
The trip, known as a CODEL, would allow lawmakers “to conduct a welfare check” on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man, along with others held in the prison, wrote Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.
The letter sent on April 15 to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., was first reported by Axios. It comes as other Democrats seek to travel to the prison in El Salvador where President Donald Trump has deported hundreds of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
More: Maryland senator heads to El Salvador seeking wrongly deported man’s return
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., is visiting El Salvador on April 16, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is reportedly seeking to do the same.
“In addition, congressional oversight is warranted following President Trump’s recent remarks in which he expressed a desire to send ‘homegrown criminals’ − including U.S. citizens − to this facility,” Garcia and Frost wrote, referencing Trump’s suggestion this week that he could send American citizens who commit violent crimes to El Salvador.
The Democratic lawmakers can visit El Salvador on their own, but they would need permission from Comer for it to be an official delegation paid for with government funds. A spokesperson for Comer did not immediately return a request for comment.
Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old sheet metal worker who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 from his home country of El Salvador, which he fled in 2006 to escape gang persecution, according to court documents. He was allowed to remain in the U.S. due to a federal judge’s protective order.
The Trump administration has acknowledged that Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error,” but refuses to bring him back to the U.S. despite a Supreme Court ruling directing the administration to “facilitate” his release. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also said during a meeting in the Oval Office on April 14 that he does not have the power to return Garcia to the United States.
The administration alleges he is a member of the MS-13 gang. A U.S. district judge has disagreed, saying the government has not provided evidence to support that accusation.
The Trump administration has said it, too, cannot bring Garcia back to the United States.
“He has no lawful right to be here. He was issued a final order of removal from this country, and so it’s up to El Salvador and to the government and the people of El Salvador what the fate of their own citizens is,” Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, said on April 14. “We can’t extradite citizens of foreign countries to our country over the objection of those countries.”
