House Democrats are pushing to organize a congressional delegation to the megaprison in El Salvador where the Trump administration is sending hundreds of deportees.
Lawmakers have the ability to travel to El Salvador on their own but would have to seek GOP approval from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to embark on an official trip that grants them security and oversight power.
Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) requested that authorization in a Tuesday letter, according to Axios, as Democrats protest the detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man wrongfully deported to the prison earlier this month.
The Supreme Court upheld a court ruling ordering the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, but the White House denies it has any authority.
The standoff has prompted several Democrats to request the trip as a “welfare check.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who represents the state where Abrego Garcia resided, has asked for a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to discuss his detention.
“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,” Van Hollen wrote in a letter.
A handful of Democratic colleagues proceeded to follow suit after Van Hollen’s letter, with
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) among those reportedly in the process of planning a trip to the Central American country.
“We must all stand as a united front against the kidnapping and illegal detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” Frost wrote on X on Monday in response to Van Hollen. “Senator, I am willing to join you and help Organize other members of the House to do the same.”
“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,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) added in a separate post on X.
The letter follows a visit by Bukele to the White House earlier this week in which he declined to help return Abrego Garcia. The Salvadoran native had been protected in 2019 by a U.S. immigration judge saying he would likely face persecution if he were to return to his home country, while the Trump administration claims he was an MS-13 gang member.
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“I think this illegal alien is exactly where he belongs — home in El Salvador. He was in our country illegally, he is from El Salvador, was born in El Salvador, and, oh, the media forgot to mention: He is a MS-13 gang member,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia Mclaughlin said in a statement Monday.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Comer’s office for comment on the requested trip.