Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) is joined by Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), left; Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), center rear; and Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), at right, as he speaks to reporters in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Monday, April 21, 2025. The four Democratic lawmakers intend to continue pressing for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to a prison in the Central American country. (Daniele Volpe/The New York Times)
- Lawmakers met with the U.S. ambassador, urging action on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's erroneous deportation case.
- Salvadoran officials denied the Democrats' request to meet with Abrego Garcia, who remains imprisoned.
- The visit follows Senator Van Hollen's trip, highlighting ongoing efforts to address wrongful deportations.
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WASHINGTON — Four House Democrats traveled to El Salvador on Monday to press for the release of a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported there last month, and to demand updates on him and other migrants who are imprisoned there.
The visit was the latest bid by Democrats in Congress to amplify the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man whom Trump administration officials have admitted to erroneously sending back to his home country, and hundreds of other immigrants the administration has hastily deported.
Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine E. Dexter of Oregon met with William H. Duncan, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, at the embassy in San Salvador on Monday morning. They urged the ambassador to raise the issue with Salvadoran officials and to press for transparency about Abrego Garcia’s detention.
Meeting With US Ambassador
The lawmakers said they had not been permitted by Salvadoran officials to meet with Abrego Garcia.
After their meeting, a U.S. Embassy official said the lawmakers’ concerns had been relayed to the Salvadoran government.
Related Story: Supreme Court Blocks, for Now, New Deportations Under 18th Century Wartime Law
Concerns Relayed, Meeting Denied
The official said it was the first time the embassy had raised questions to President Nayib Bukele’s administration about the treatment of more than 250 Venezuelan migrants now being held in Salvadoran custody.
At a news conference after the meeting, the Democrats denounced the Trump administration’s failure to comply with court orders, including a Supreme Court decision instructing the administration to take steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.
“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 told reporters.
The lawmakers’ visit follows that of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who traveled to El Salvador last week. After two days of resistance from Bukele’s government, Salvadoran officials allowed Van Hollen to meet with Abrego Garcia face-to-face, delivering him unexpectedly to the senator’s hotel for a meeting that appeared staged to emphasize how well he was being treated.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Robert Jimison and Annie Correal/Daniele Volpe
c. 2025 The New York Times Company
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