SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement calling forthe immediate return of Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father who was living legally in Maryland with his family until he was wrongfully deported without due process by the Trump Administration last month to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador notorious for human rights abuses.
The Trump Administration has admitted that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s deportation was the result of an “administrative error.” Yet yesterday, in an Oval Office meeting, President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador made clear they had no intention of returning Mr. Abrego Garcia to the U.S., even though the Supreme Court noted that his removal to El Salvador was illegal and that the district court’s order in the case “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” In the Oval Office meeting, President Trump also discussed the possibility of sending American citizens convicted of violent crimes to this maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
“Donald Trump’s comments in the Oval Office yesterday should unnerve everyone—Republicans and Democrats alike. Mr. Abrego Garcia must be returned to the United States immediately. Donald Trump’s continued unwillingness to immediately rectify this ‘administrative error’ is completely unacceptable and contrary to the rule of law.
“Now is the time for my Republican colleagues to step up. You can no longer stay silent in the face of a constitutional crisis. You must join Democrats in responding to this madness and demanding that Mr. Abrego Garcia is returned to the United States immediately. If not, you will bow down to Donald Trump’s refusal to stand up to President Bukele—a self-styled dictator—and Donald Trump’s chilling remarks about potentially—and illegally—sending American citizens to the notoriously inhumane maximum-security prison in El Salvador. The choice is yours.”
Last week, Durbin joined 24 Senators in writing to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Tedd Lyons urging them to return Mr. Abrego Garcia. Their letter called on the Trump Administration to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return and asked for responses to questions regarding ICE’s enforcement policies that may have led to this grave error—and what measures they will take to ensure such an incident does not occur again.
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