House Democrats who traveled to El Salvador to seek the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding “daily proof of life” after being denied a meeting with the Salvadoran national who was deported from Maryland.
Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon flew to El Salvador Monday following a visit to the country by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., last week.
“We had a meeting this morning with the embassy here in El Salvador and from what we have heard there is no reason for me to believe that our administration, the Trump administration, is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home,” Ansari said.
“Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter, just as of 30 minutes ago, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Abrego Garcia, demanding he sees – he has access to counsel, and of course, finally, demanding his safe return home,” she added. “And we will not stop until this is complete.”
REPUBLICAN SENATOR SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTING KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA WAS A ‘SCREW-UP’
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old immigrant who crossed the border illegally, settled in Maryland and obtained protected legal status, was deported to El Salvador last month. Officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang.
Frost said Monday that the traveling Democrats “formally requested” to meet with Abrego Garcia but “we were told at our meeting that the government here has denied our request to see him because this is not an official trip.”
READ THE DEMOCRATIC LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
“We are also worried about our own constituents; we represent people across the entire nation,” Frost told reporters in El Salvador. “We are getting hundreds and hundreds of calls – people saying ‘Go to El Salvador, do something, do something about the fact that president of the United States in the Oval Office is talking about sending U.S. citizens here to El Salvador to the prison here.'”
ABREGO GARCIA TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON
“We don’t want to wait until things get worse. We are here to build off of the work of Sen. Van Hollen, who heroically came down here and showed his family and the world for the first time since he was taken down here, that he is alive, that he was alive and he was well at that time,” he added. “What we want to know is where is he at now? What is his condition now? His family deserves to know, the people deserve to know.”
Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez, a U.S. citizen, released a statement Monday saying “we’re deeply grateful to the members of Congress and advocates for justice now on the ground in El Salvador, building on the leadership of Senator Van Hollen.”
“Their presence sends a powerful message: the fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over,” she said.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
