Jesse Scheckner
U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost is in El Salvador with three other Democratic lawmakers to pressure President Donald Trump’s administration to effectuate the return of a Maryland man with protected legal status who was deported last month.
He called Trump’s deportation of the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, without due process part of a “government-funded kidnapping program” brought about by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is Trump’s latest victim,” Frost said in a statement.
“As Members of Congress it is our responsibility to hold the President and Administration accountable for defying the Constitution of the United States. Donald Trump and ICE are not above the law. Today it’s Kilmar, but tomorrow it could be anyone else. We cannot and will not let Donald Trump get away with this.”
Joining Frost in the trip — which is not being financed by taxpayer dollars, according to a press note from the Orlando Congressman’s Office — are U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon and Robert Garcia of California.
The trip comes after U.S. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, refused Frost and Garcia’s request for an official Congressional Delegation to the Central American nation.
It also follows a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court backing a lower court’s order to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in an El Salvadoran prison and treat his case “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
The ruling came with a proviso, however, that the District of Maryland court’s order to the Trump administration “may exceed” its authority and that the court “should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”
Trump administration officials have pushed back against bringing Abrego Garcia back, arguing it is up to El Salvador. The President of El Salvador said he lacked the power to return Abrego Garcia, saying it would be “preposterous” to “smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”
Abrego Garcia, 29, lived in the U.S. for roughly 14 years, during which he worked construction, got married and was raising three children with disabilities, according to court records.
Trump administration officials said he was deported based on a 2019 accusation from Maryland police he was an MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime, his attorneys said.
The Trump administration has admitted Abrego Garcia’s detention was an “error,” but has so far refused to abide by the federal Judge and Supreme Court’s orders to return him.
Frost’s Office said he and his congressional colleagues will also advocate for other detainees who were deported from the U.S. without due process.
“What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not just one family’s nightmare — it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us,” Dexter said in a statement.
“We will not rest while due process is discarded, and our constitutional rights are ignored. We will be loud in demanding that the Trump Administration abide by the Supreme Court’s decision and uphold the rule of law. Because if this can happen to Mr. Abrego Garcia, it can happen to anyone.”
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Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. Republished with permission.
11 comments
Foghorn Leghorn
April 21, 2025 at 10:06 am
Maxwell Frost making demand? Hilarious. I’m sure the President of El Salvador is shaking in his boots.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 21, 2025 at 10:09 am
Hey Maxwell! We have United States citizens still being held hostage by Hamas. Any interest in them?
JD
April 21, 2025 at 10:26 am
This comment by Foghorn Leghorn is propaganda because:
1.) It uses a false choice fallacy.
It frames caring about U.S. hostages and caring about others as mutually exclusive, when they are not. This forces an artificial, manipulative decision.
2.) It attempts emotional manipulation.
It tries to guilt people into agreement by weaponizing patriotism and outrage. This short-circuits rational discussion by appealing to fear and loyalty instead of logic.
3.) It frames disagreement as moral failure.
It implies that anyone who questions the framing is uncaring or immoral. This is designed to silence opposition rather than invite real conversation.
This is a public service announcement.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 21, 2025 at 10:39 am
You can call off the Tesla, George Floyd, Defund the Police activists. What will probably happen here is that this illegal will come back to the United States. He will get his hearing and then get deported right back to El Salvador. At what cost will this be to the US taxpayers? What about the three stooges (Biden, Harris, Mayorkas) allowing millions to enter here illegally ? What will that cost eventually be to the US taxpayers?
JD
April 21, 2025 at 10:53 am
This is also propaganda because:
1.) Scapegoating and deflection.
Instead of addressing the original point about American hostages, it shifts blame onto activists, immigrants, and politicians. This avoids the issue and scapegoats unrelated groups.
2.) Emotional labeling.
Terms like “Tesla, George Floyd, Defund the Police activists,” and “three stooges” are used to provoke anger, not make a logical argument. It appeals to emotion over reason.
3.) False equivalence.
It compares a hostage situation with immigration policy, pretending they are equally urgent or related. They are not, and linking them confuses the conversation intentionally.
4.) Fearmongering.
It throws out “millions entering illegally” and “cost to taxpayers” without context or facts. This is meant to create fear, not inform.
5.) Anger stacking.
By piling multiple grievances together in a rapid list, it tries to overwhelm the reader emotionally. This tactic shuts down critical thinking and invites reaction, not reflection.
This has been a public service announcement.
You do really suck at this, don’t you?
tom palmer
April 21, 2025 at 10:39 am
Not sure purpose of his trip besides publicity.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 21, 2025 at 11:00 am
Or as JD says, propaganda. 🤣
JD
April 21, 2025 at 11:05 am
Aww – I see you’re my litte bitch Foghorn. Did I “touch a nerve”? Stop spreading propaganda.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 21, 2025 at 11:40 am
No JD. I’m not your beotch and will never be. If you want to claim some sort of victory then go for it by all means. Hang it right next to your participation trophy’s. Have to say I think it is me that lives rent free inside your head. You seem to follow me around here. I might have to start charging you rent. Zelle, and Venmo work for me.
JD
April 21, 2025 at 11:49 am
This is also propaganda because:
1.) Deflection. Instead of addressing the original accusation of spreading propaganda, it shifts to personal insults and bragging.
2.) Mockery. It uses phrases like “participation trophies” and “rent free” to belittle and trigger an emotional reaction instead of engaging the substance.
3.) Gaslighting. It tries to flip the situation, pretending that you are the obsessed one when the original comment called out their behavior.
4.) Victim-blaming. It paints themselves as being “followed” to imply harassment, even though they are responding to being called out.
5.) Outrage bait. The goal is not to argue or defend, but to provoke you into reacting emotionally so they can avoid being accountable for the original propaganda.
I would say this is a victory. I robbed you of your power and know the secret sauce. It will be sent around accordingly. Before I was goading, but how’s it feel to be my beotch for real?
This has been a public service announcement.
Michael K
April 21, 2025 at 11:02 am
It’s to remind people of our Constitutional right to due process. Under the logic and likely illegal practice of the current regime, any person – including a US citizen and persons with protected legal status – can be rounded up and “disappeared” without due process. Worse yet, this notorious prison is a US-funded gulag – a life sentence to rot and die without a hearing. We still have no proof of exactly who is there, and why. None has not been made public.
All persons are guaranteed due process under the US Constitution. All means all.
Garcia’s incarceration is an admitted “administrative error” that the current administration has no intention of correcting. So who’s next? Student protesters? The press? You? Me?