Four House Dems travel to El Salvador despite GOP refusal
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Rep. Robert Garcia speaks during a press conference in Long Beach, Calif., on July 18, 2024. Photo: Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
After House Republicans refused to allow Democrats to organize official congressional delegations to El Salvador, four of them are traveling to the Central American nation anyway, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The lawmakers' offices said they will meet with officials at the U.S. embassy there to advocate for the release of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García and receive classified briefings.
- The Supreme Court has ordered the return of Ábrego García, a Maryland resident who was erroneously deported, but the Trump administration and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele have refused to comply.
- He was being held at the country's notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison, but Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said after meeting with him that he has been moved to another detention center.
Driving the news: Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) and Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) arrived in San Salvador, the country's capital, on Monday morning, their offices said.
- Garcia and Frost had requested authorization from House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) but were denied.
- "If you ... wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money. But I will not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds for use on the excursion you have requested," Comer wrote.
- The four Democratic lawmakers' office said in a joint statement that their trip "is not being financed by taxpayer dollars."
Zoom out: Ábrego García's case has come to symbolize the national struggle over the Trump administration's deportation policies and its efforts to centralize power in the executive branch.
- Democrats have accused the administration of blatantly overstepping its authority both by deporting Ábrego García despite a 2019 no-removal order and by defying a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return.
- The White House and Republicans have shot back by claiming Ábrego García is a member of the gang MS-13.
- Some Democrats have been sensitive to Republican attacks on their colleagues' efforts to free Ábrego García, leading to internal friction over the issue.
What they're saying: "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," Rep. Garcia said in a statement.
- In addition to Ábrego García, the House Democrats will "also advocate for other detainees who are being held without due process," their offices said.
Go deeper... Timeline: The case of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador
