House Democrats Land in El Salvador

Four Democratic members of Congress have arrived in El Salvador to keep attention focused on the plight of deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, reports Politico. Their visit follows that of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, though it was unclear if they would be able to meet with Abrego Garcia in person, as Van Hollen did. The four are:

• Yassamin Ansari of Arizona
• Maxine Dexter of Oregon
• Maxwell Frost of Florida
• Robert Garcia of California
• All four are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, notes the Washington Post. They plan to meet with Salvadoran government officials and human rights advocates, and to obtain information on other detainees as well.

• "What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family's nightmare—it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us," Dexter said in a statement, one that echoed points in the statements of the other three. "We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored."
• On the flip side of that is GOP Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, who visited El Salvador last week to see the prison. "It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country," he tweeted after his visit.
• A Justice Department attorney initially called the deportation of Abrego Garcia from Maryland to a notorious Salvadoran prison a mistake, but the White House has since described it as lawful, per the New York Times. While the Supreme Court has ordered the White House to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return, the US says it won't do so unless El Salvador decides to send him back. El Salvador's president has ruled that out.

(More Kilmar Abrego Garcia stories.)