Democrat lawmakers have announced plans to travel to El Salvador on Monday to demand that the President free a designated terrorist and El Salvadoran citizen from prison.
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Monday told reporters that he will travel to El Salvador and declared that El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele must “hand over and release an innocent man, and let him come home to his family.”
“The president of El Salvador should not now take it upon himself to say that he is detaining him for one more day, because that is kidnapping,” he threatened.
Democrats refuse to mention his gang affiliations, describing him as a “Maryland man” and “father of three.”
However, the Trump Administration cites two court rulings that found the “Maryland man,” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is an MS-13 gang member, making him a designated foreign terrorist, and an El Salvadoran citizen who was in the United States illegally. His deportation was previously blocked by a judge over safety concerns if he was returned to his home country. “Under our law, he’s not even allowed to be in the United States and had to be returned because of the foreign terrorist designation,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller argues.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the United States must facilitate his return to the United States, but only if El Salvador hands him over, which likely won’t be happening.
WATCH:
Van Hollen: I saw the comments of President Bukele, and I look forward to meeting with him. I’ve requested to meet with him. I reached out to the ambassador here to ask to meet while he’s here. But I’ve also made clear if we can’t meet here, I do intend to go to El Salvador to discuss the release of this individual, who is illegally detained, a Maryland man who’s the father of three in a notorious prison in El Salvador.
And I believe the president of El Salvador will recognize why it’s important to allow him to return to the United States of America because it is absolutely unjust and illegal to have this Marylander detained one more day in a notorious prison in El Salvador. Of course, President Trump could have just said, you know, “bring him home.” Of course, he could have done that, but this is an administration that has lied about Mr. Abrego Garcia, right? The Vice President United States tweeted out that he had a criminal record. That was a lie. They’re just lying. They’ve gotten caught lying. They don’t want to admit it, and they have an obligation to bring him home.
But I will say the president of El Salvador should not now take it upon himself to say that he is detaining him for one more day, because that is kidnapping. I understand that the Attorney General said that we would provide a plane to bring him home. So, all the president of El Salvador has to do now is hand over and release an innocent man, and let him come home to his family.
Several Democrats have locked arms with Van Hollen, announcing they will join him on his ridiculous mission to make demands in a foreign country.
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) responded to Van Hollen, “I am willing to join you and help Organize other members of the House to do the same.” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) replied, “I’m in, we should go.”
I’m in, we should go.
— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarcia) April 15, 2025
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) also announced her intent to join her colleagues.
We need answers now. I’m ready to join Sen. @VanHollenForMD and my colleagues @MaxwellFrostFL, @RobertGarcia in El Salvador to demand Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release and get him safely back to his family. https://t.co/cS8ktLpdM1
— Yassamin Ansari (@yassaminansari) April 15, 2025
But Nayib Bukele probably won’t give in to their demands.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Bukele was at the White House on Monday, meeting with President Trump about the United States’ alien removal partnership with El Salvador. During an exchange with the press, he told off reporters for suggesting El Salvador should release Kilmar Abrego Gargia back to the United States.
He called the idea “preposterous” and responded, “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?”
Asked if he would release Garcia from prison and into the community, he told reporters, “We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country. We just turned the murder capital of the world to the safest country in the western hemisphere, and you want us to go back to releasing criminals so we can go back to being the murder capital of the world?”
President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and President Bukele tore far-left Kaitlan Collins to shreds on the topic of Kilmar Garcia.
BOOM! President Trump Shuts Down “Very Low-Rated” Kaitlin Collins During Press Conference with El Salvadorian President – Stephen Miller, Bondi, Rubio, and Nayib Bukele SCHOOL Her in Epic Exchange (VIDEO)
Van Hollen announced in a press release his plans to travel to El Salvador “if Kilmar is not home by midweek.” He also published a letter he sent to the Ambassador of El Salvador to the United States, requesting a meeting with Bukele.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has requested a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele while he is in the United States this week in order to discuss the return of Maryland father Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Senator Van Hollen is also announcing his intent to travel to El Salvador this week if Abrego Garcia is not returned by then.
“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now. However, since the Trump Administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action. That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and – if Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release,” said Senator Van Hollen
The text of the Senator’s letter to Salvadoran Ambassador Milena Mayorga requesting a meeting with President Bukele is available here and below.
Dear Ambassador Mayorga:
I write to urgently request a meeting with President Bukele during his current visit to the United States to discuss the illegal detention of my constituent, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Mr. Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador. On Saturday evening in a court filing to a federal judge in Maryland, the Trump Administration confirmed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center according to Michael G. Kozak, a senior official in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. However, they did not detail steps that have been taken to facilitate his return, as mandated by the Supreme Court.
I have met with Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother and, as you can imagine, they are extremely worried about his health, safety, and continued illegal confinement, as am I.
I look forward to your response.
This is a developing story.
The post Democrat Lawmakers Say They Will Travel to El Salvador to Demand President Bukele Hand Over “Illegally Detained” Terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Accuses Bukele of “Kidnapping” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.