More Democrats jump on the Kilmar Garcia bandwagon as all roads lead to sunny El Salvador

San Salvador: A delegation of four House Democrats arrived in El Salvador Monday to demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man living in Maryland whose deportation has divided the country.

Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), and Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) accused the Trump administration of defying a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return.

"While Donald Trump continues to defy the Supreme Court, Kilmar is being held illegally after being wrongfully deported," Garcia said. "Kidnapping immigrants without due process is not how America operates." The lawmakers emphasized they are self-funding the trip after House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) denied official delegation status.

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Abrego Garcia, shielded from deportation since 2019 due to an immigration judge’s ruling, was removed due to an "administrative error", according to the Justice Department. However, the Trump administration now insists his deportation was justified, while Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has refused to release him, labeling him a "terrorist".

The visit follows Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Md.) trip last week, where Salvadoran officials initially blocked him from meeting Abrego Garcia before relenting. Van Hollen revealed that Salvadoran authorities admitted Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the country but claimed US funding justified his detention.

"The Trump administration is paying El Salvador to keep him imprisoned," Van Hollen said after meeting Vice President Félix Ulloa. He also accused the administration of ignoring the Supreme Court’s directive to secure Abrego Garcia’s return.