U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, announced Friday that she plans to travel to El Salvador to demand the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration wrongfully deported in March.
FILE - U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter addresses a crowded town hall at Centennial High School in Gresham, Ore., on March 1, 2025.
Joni Land / OPB
The Trump administration has acknowledged that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.” The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the administration must begin to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.
The White House has said it will not bring him back, claiming he is affiliated with the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia and his attorneys have denied that claim.
Like many other Democrats, Dexter is urging President Donald Trump to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., so that he can exercise his rights to due process.
“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 statement.
“I will travel to El Salvador to confront this crisis head on. Our constitutional rights are on the line.”
Dexter is the latest member of Congress to pledge to visit the Central American country. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, returned to the U.S. after a trip to see Abrego Garcia.
According to Van Hollen, the 29-year-old Abrego Garcia said he was recently moved from a maximum prison to a detention center with better conditions, according to the Associated Press.
Dexter has not yet announced exactly when she will travel to El Salvador.
