The group of House Democrats who traveled Monday to El Salvador were denied a meeting with wrongfully deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia and said they are now demanding daily “proof of life.”
Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.) and Maxine Dexter (Ore.) comes on the heels of Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s visit with Abrego Garcia and Salvadoran officials about his deportation.
The lawmakers met with William Duncan, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador at the embassy in San Salvador on Monday morning, urging the ambassador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release and ask for transparency from local officials.
“We left that meeting with absolutely zero indication that this administration … is going to facilitate, or wants to facilitate, the return of Abrego Garcia back to the United States so he can go through due process,” Frost said at a press conference.
The lawmakers noted that they were there to seek the release of Abrego Garcia and to make sure he was in proper conditions while being detained, but their mission was larger. If the administration will deport and not facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia, they may do it to others, the Democrats argued.
“We need Kilmar to come home, but we are so concerned that if this is allowed to fly, that the Trump administration will be emboldened to continue,” Ansari said during the press conference.
Ansari shared with members of the media that she and the other Democrats wrote a letter on Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding that the administration provide daily proof that Abrego Garcia is alive.
“Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter, just as of 30 minutes ago, to Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Abrego Garcia, demanding he sees he has access to counsel, and of course, finally, demanding his safe return home,” Ansari said. “And we will not stop until this is complete.”
A U.S. embassy official told the New York Times after the House Democrats held their meeting at the embassy on Monday, their concerns were relayed to the Salvadoran government.
The Trump administration has previously admitted to mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia but has since said it would not help bring him home, sparking a legal battle and fight between the executive and judicial branches.
The Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, but left wiggle room for Trump officials to say the responsibility lies with El Salvador. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said he would not be returning the Maryland man.
During Van Hollen’s visit, he was eventually granted permission to meet with Abrego Garcia, during which he said he informed him of the efforts in the U.S. to secure his release and criticized the Salvadoran government for fabricating better conditions for the man.
Abrego Garcia was given deportation protection in a 2019 court ruling, noting that he was facing threats on his life in his home country of El Salvador. The Trump administration has sought to accuse Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang.
The Hill has reached out to the State Department for comment.