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A delegation of Democrats jumped on the bandwagon and headed to El Salvador Monday to demand that the Trump administration return reputed MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the US — as their own constituents slammed them for grandstanding.

Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (D-Arizona), Maxine Dexter (D-Oregon) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) met with officials at the US embassy in the Central American country, arguing President Trump illegally deported Abrego Garcia — and defied court orders to bring him back.


  Rep. Dexter called for the release of Abrego Garcia. X / @RepDexterOR Rep. Dexter called for the release of Abrego Garcia. X / @RepDexterOR

  Ansari shared on X that she’s arrived in El Salvador. X / @RepYassAnsari Ansari shared on X that she’s arrived in El Salvador. X / @RepYassAnsari

The attorney representing Abrego Garcia’s family, Chris Newman, joined the lawmakers on the ground in El Salvador, where he accused Trump of “defamation” against the alleged gangbanger.

“There have been a lot of mistruths that have been told about Mr. Abrego Garcia and his family, a lot of defamation coming from the highest office in our country and the most powerful office in the world,” said Newman.

“The truth is that Mr. Abrego is an innocent man who has been deprived of his basic human rights,” he added.

Meanwhile, the White House accused the group of jet-setting Democrats of “prioritizing a deported illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member over the Americans they represent,” in an X post Monday.

While it’s unclear how exactly the trip was funded, James Comer, the chairman for the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, denied the group’s request to use taxpayer funds “to meet with a foreign MS-13 gang member whose wife accused him of crimes and who is strongly suspected of human trafficking.”

The group received backlash from fed-up constituents back home.

One in Arizona wrote on X that she’s “so glad Ansari went and is ignoring her large homeless & veteran population back in CD01,” adding that “The people in El Salvador aren’t her constituents.”

Another noted, “How about you do your job in Oregon. Nobody cares what an El Salvador man is doing in an El Salvador prison. This is why you guys lost in November. You learned nothing.”

The trip follows Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Md.) taxpayer-funded meeting with Abrego Garcia last week.

The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, 29, to his home country last month despite a 2019 court order blocking his removal from the US due to concerns he could face gang retaliation from MS-13 rival Barrio 18.

Abrego Garcia was shipped off with 260 other reputed gangbangers after Trump used the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport the group without a hearing.

Several federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have told the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the US after the revelation that he was deported as the result of a “clerical error.”

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argue their client has no criminal history to support his deportation from America.

Justice Department lawyers have claimed they’re complying with the orders to return Abrego Garcia by removing any obstacles existing in the US that would prevent his return. But they argue they can’t force the Salvadoran government to bring him back.

The Trump administration said Abrego Garcia was engaged in human trafficking after he was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on Dec. 1, 2022, for speeding and found to have eight others in the car.

The responding officer suspected human trafficking was involved because Abrego Garcia and his eight passengers had no luggage despite having been on the road for three days traveling from Texas to Maryland.

Abrego Garcia told the officer he was bound for Temple Hills, Maryland, “to bring in people to perform construction work,” according to the memo.


  The Trump admin deported Abrego Garcia alleging he’s a member of MS-13. AP The Trump admin deported Abrego Garcia alleging he’s a member of MS-13. AP

The Salvadoran citizen was let go with a citation for driving with an expired license.

But it wasn’t his first run-in with the cops.

Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland in March 2019 after he was found hanging out with confirmed MS-13 gangbangers in a Home Depot parking lot, according to documents released by the Department of Justice.

A “past proven and reliable source” also told a Hyattsville City Police Department detective that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13’s Western clique who carried the rank of “Chequeo” and the moniker “Chele,” according to a gang field interview sheet.

When he was arrested, Abrego Garcia was donning a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie with rolls of cash covering the eyes, ears and mouths of the presidents on the different denominations, which is “indicative of the Hispanic gang culture.”

“Wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents that they are a member in good standing with the MS-13,” the police report read.

He was later taken into ICE custody, but an immigration judge blocked his deportation to El Salvador in October 2019 after determining he was at risk of retaliation from Barrio 18 ganbangers.


  Rep. Maxwell Frost was among those who made the trip. Getty Images for Community Change Action Rep. Maxwell Frost was among those who made the trip. Getty Images for Community Change Action

Abrego Garcia was also previously accused of physically abusing his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a US citizen who has been fiercely pushing for his return.

The woman asked a Maryland court to grant her a protective order against Abrego Garcia in 2021 after he allegedly punched, scratched, grabbed and bruised her, according to court documents.

His wife told The Post last week that she was merely “acting out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar … in case things escalated” after surviving domestic abuse “in a previous relationship.”

“Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling,” she said.

“Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect.”

Abrego Garcia’s wife also said that Abrego Garcia’s alleged abuse “is not justification for ICE’s actions of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation.”

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