PHOENIX — Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari said she plans on joining a Democratic delegation to El Salvador to check on Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was deported back in March over an apparent administrative error.
"Mr. Garcia, is a father, a union worker for a part of the sheet metal workers, and has been detained for about 27 days now in a foreign prison, and the administration has made clear they don't want to bring him back,” Ansari told ABC15. “And, for me and my district, there are so many of my constituents who have reached out and made clear that this issue is a priority to them, because due process rights are a priority to them.”
But according to Axis, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green is refusing to authorize the trip. Ansari said she is "exploring all options, talking to different organizations, human rights groups and lawyers, etc., to see what might be possible,” adding that she would be willing to self-fund the trip if needed.
The U.S. government has accused Abrego Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member. However, he has never been charged with a crime.
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”We have one unnamed person saying that he's an MS-13 member, and no other proof of this, and no criminal history whatsoever,” Immigration attorney Hillary Walsh said. “And, so we really have to question from a due process perspective, you know, what are we going to believe as Americans?”
The Supreme Court said the Trump administration must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return; however, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that is up to El Salvador.
In a meeting at the White House this week with President Donald Trump, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said he will not release Abrego Garcia.
Walsh told ABC15 there really isn’t anything someone in Congress or the Senate can do to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release.
“A Congress person, a Senator, we don't have any recourse to be able to go into a foreign country and bring one of their citizens back into our country. So unfortunately, our hands are kind of tied. I think this does appease people here in the United States who are very concerned about what's going on,” Walsh said.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen said he met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador on Thursday evening. Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland before his deportation.
In 2019, Abrego Garcia was issued a court order barring his deportation to El Salvador. His attorneys say he escaped political violence in 2011.
