Democratic Lawmakers Race To El Salvador in Showdown Over Deportations: Report

Democratic lawmakers are planning to travel to El Salvador to lobby for the release of the recently deported Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Axios reports.

The planned trips come after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered testimony from four Trump administration officials over Abrego Garcia being sent to his home country via an “administrative error.”

In response to the order, Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., are seeking to lead a congressional delegation to El Salvador’s high-security facility, the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), where Abrego Garcia is being held.

“We need to spring into action,” Garcia stated. “This is not just about one deportee, or even immigration policy. This is about a president of the United States defying the Supreme Court and wanting to be a king.”

The Supreme Court asked the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who was subject to a withholding of removal order from a lower court that prevented him from being deported to El Salvador. However, El Salvadorian president Nayib Bukele said during an Oval Office visit this week that he had no intention of returning the suspected MS-13 gang member. (RELATED: Trump Admin Argues It Doesn’t Have To Return Suspected MS-13 Gangbanger Back To US)

Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen landed in El Salvador on Wednesday, where he says he will fight for the release of his Abrego Garcia. Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is also planning his own visit in what Democrats say is a response to former President Donald Trump’s defiance of the Supreme Court’s ruling. (RELATED: Van Hollen travels to El Salvador as Trump officials ramp up defense of illegal deportation)

This man responded to the murder of one of his US citizen constituents by an illegal immigrant gang member with a press statement. He’s now in El Salvador on behalf of an illegal immigrant deported (admittedly in error) to his own home country. The deported man’s Maryland wife… https://t.co/jChgVdkxFv

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) April 16, 2025

The unfolding controversy is part of a broader, resistance-oriented approach many Democrats have embraced in recent months — a strategy that has sparked internal party tensions. Some members of the party’s establishment wing have raised concerns that the strategy may appear erratic.

This is just the “soup du jour,” one anonymous House Democrat told Axios. “Trump is setting a trap for the Democrats, and like usual, we’re falling for it.”

Cory Booker is organizing a trip for a group of Congress members to El Salvador to protest the release of a violent MS-13 gang member. pic.twitter.com/nGHvsamrde

— Department of Government Efficiency News (@DOGE__news) April 16, 2025

Garcia pushed back on the characterization, arguing the case represents a deeper issue. “This is not just a deportation story,” he told Axios. “This is a broader story about Donald Trump consolidating power.”

Xinis’s order for testimony from administrative officials came after the Supreme Court asked her to clarify her earlier directive that the administration must “effectuate” the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States.  She has since instructed the administration to provide daily updates on efforts to return him.

The hearings are expected to involve officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the State Department, is expected to unfold over two weeks.