Oregon's Dexter to travel to El Salvador to demand release of man mistakenly deported
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, plans to travel to El Salvador to demand the release of a man the Trump administration wrongly deported and who is being held in a Salvadoran prison.
The administration has admitted that an “administrative error” resulted in the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran who was living in Maryland with his wife and three children.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return. So far, the Trump administration has not complied with the order.
“A legal U.S. resident has had his due process rights ripped away and is now being held indefinitely in a foreign prison. This is not just one family’s nightmare; it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” Dexter said in a Friday news release announcing her plans, adding “our constitutional rights are on the line.”
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say in 2011 he fled threats from a gang in El Salvador and came to the United States illegally. A judge later allowed him to stay in the United States because if deported to El Salvador, he might be tortured there.
Dexter’s planned trip comes on the heels of Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador. He returned to the United States on Friday after visiting with Abrego Garcia.
Dexter’s office did not say Friday when the congresswoman would travel to El Salvador but said more details would be “announced imminently.”
This story has been updated from its original version to add background on Abrego Garcia’s legal status in the United States.
