In a move that’s drawing fierce backlash from law-and-order conservatives, Democrat lawmakers are preparing an international diplomatic stunt—pressuring El Salvador to release a known MS-13 gang member and foreign national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported under the Trump Administration’s crackdown on violent illegal alien criminals.
Leading the charge is Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who claims that Garcia—an illegal immigrant with documented ties to MS-13—is simply an “innocent Maryland man” and a “father of three.” Van Hollen has gone so far as to label Garcia’s incarceration in El Salvador a “kidnapping,” despite the fact that multiple U.S. immigration courts and federal agencies have designated Garcia as a gang-affiliated national security threat. His deportation was upheld in 2019, during President Trump’s first term, as part of a broader policy to remove criminal aliens and secure American communities.
According to Stephen Miller, Trump’s former senior advisor and now a top White House official, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a foreign national, an illegal alien, and a known associate of MS-13—one of the most violent and brutal transnational gangs in the Western Hemisphere. This is not a man who should ever set foot on American soil again.”
Despite overwhelming evidence and legal precedent supporting Garcia’s removal, Van Hollen and other far-left Democrats are launching what critics call a politically motivated pressure campaign against Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, one of Trump’s key allies in the fight against transnational crime.
Van Hollen has publicly stated that he has requested a meeting with President Bukele, calling Garcia’s detention in the high-security CECOT prison—a facility built specifically to house gang leaders and terrorists—“absolutely unjust and illegal.” He’s not alone in this mission. Left-wing Representatives Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) have also signaled support for a trip to El Salvador to lobby for Garcia’s release.
These lawmakers are attempting to paint Garcia as a family man and downplay his past, despite the fact that court documents, DHS reports, and ICE testimony confirm his gang ties and illegal status. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2019 and deported under Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration enforcement directive.
The Democrats’ push has been met with fierce resistance from both Trump officials and the Salvadoran government, who see it as an attempt to undermine international law enforcement cooperation and elevate the rights of foreign criminals over American sovereignty.
During a prior meeting at the White House, President Bukele—praised by President Trump for restoring law and order in El Salvador—shut down the notion that Garcia would be released under U.S. pressure. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele asked rhetorically. “That idea is preposterous.”
Bukele’s administration has transformed El Salvador from one of the world’s most dangerous nations—once dubbed the “murder capital of the world”—into one of the safest countries in Latin America. His strategy? Mass incarceration of gang members, strict sentencing, and zero tolerance for criminal infiltration of the state. Garcia’s placement in CECOT aligns with Bukele’s campaign to dismantle MS-13’s influence permanently.
“We’re not fond of releasing terrorists back into our country,” Bukele declared. “And we’re not about to let foreign politicians dictate our national security policies.”
President Trump, who made immigration enforcement a hallmark of his presidency, has remained firm on the matter. His administration successfully removed thousands of MS-13 operatives, including Garcia, who had entered the U.S. illegally and posed a significant threat to public safety. Trump also forged agreements with Central American nations to facilitate removals and discourage asylum fraud.
At a press event with Bukele and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump blasted the media’s portrayal of Garcia as a victim. “We’re not going to allow MS-13 to come back. We’re not going to allow activist judges and radical lawmakers to bring gang members back into our neighborhoods,” Trump said.
The Democrats’ efforts to rescue a deported gang member have drawn sharp criticism from Trump allies who see the move as not only dangerous, but emblematic of the broader left-wing obsession with open borders and criminal leniency.
“This is the same party that wants to defund the police, open the border, and now, apparently, import gang members from foreign prisons,” one senior Trump adviser told Breitbart News.
Despite their claims, there is no legal obligation for El Salvador to return Garcia, and the Supreme Court has not mandated his release—only that the U.S. government “facilitate” communication, which the DOJ has maintained it has done. Democrats have twisted that language to suggest Trump’s DHS must somehow retrieve Garcia—despite the fact that he is in foreign custody and not under U.S. jurisdiction.
The standoff over Kilmar Garcia’s future has become a litmus test for America’s foreign policy direction: one side, led by President Trump and President Bukele, emphasizing security, law enforcement, and sovereignty; the other, led by Van Hollen and progressive Democrats, promoting open borders and legal activism.
With Van Hollen now threatening to personally travel to El Salvador if Garcia is not returned, and with pressure mounting from the activist left, the case has become a flashpoint in the broader war over America’s immigration future.
Trump supporters and conservative watchdog groups are calling on the Biden administration to stop pandering to extremists and defend the legitimacy of the original deportation. “The Trump Administration got this right. Garcia should never have been in this country to begin with,” said Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch.
As diplomatic tensions rise, one thing is clear: President Trump’s America First doctrine is alive and well, and the battle over Kilmar Garcia will not be won with photo-ops and political theater—but with a firm commitment to national sovereignty, law enforcement, and the protection of the American people.
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