Attorney General Pam Bondi scoffed at Democratic lawmakers who say they will visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
While a district judge ruled in favor of facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, the Department of Justice pointed out that the ruling did not dictate that it would have to effectuate his return, signaling he would stay in the prison. Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) pledged a visit to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, referred to as the CECOT, which Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele built after entering office.
“These people are so detached from reality that they do not care about the victims of crimes in this country. There is a reason Donald Trump declared MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization,” Bondi said on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime. “They are organized crime at its worst. They are spread rampant throughout our country. We are going to rid our country of MS-13 and TDA. We’re just thankful that President Nayib Bukele will take him in a prison in El Salvador.”
All CECOT prisoners, which include members of the gangs Tren de Aragua and MS-13, will stay there for a minimum of one year.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed that these immigrants were deported under Code Title 8, which allows federal authorities to remove quickly certain migrants who cross into the country illegally. They were also deported under the Alien Enemies Act, which allows the president to remove migrants immediately if they come from invading countries in times of war.
Abrego Garcia was cited in a petition against budget airline Avelo, which initiated a contract with ICE to charter deportation flights beginning in May. The petition called for Avelo to “stop plans to profit off ICE flights that are tearing families and communities apart and removing some legal residents, such as Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, with no recourse for returning to their families.”