U.S. senators introduce legislation that would require Trump administration to report on deportations to El Salvador
A group of Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation Thursday that would require the Trump administration to share reports on the steps they are taking to comply with court orders surrounding deportations to El Salvador.
The legislation was introduced as a legal fight plays out over Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was deported to a prison in El Salvador in March. The Trump administration has admitted that Abrego Garcia's deportation was due to an administrative error.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic U.S. Senators introduced the legislation. It would also require an assessment of El Salvador's human rights record and require the Trump administration to confirm if U.S. funds are being used to support the detention of U.S. residents.
Senators demand answers on deportations to El Salvador
Abrego Garcia was one of about 200 migrants who were put on a plane and flown to a notorious Salvadoran prison in March.
According to CBS News, the country's president, Nayib Bukele, offered to take the alleged terrorist gang members. The Trump administration used the Alien Enemies Act, a World War II-era law, to send them.
The deal between El Salvador and U.S. leaders has caused concern for some lawmakers.
Sen. Van Hollen has pointed to the deal several times as he continues to call for Abrego Garcia to be returned to the U.S.
During his visit to El Salvador last month, Van Hollen said Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa revealed that Abrego Garcia was still detained because the U.S. is paying El Salvador to keep him.
"...the Government of El Salvador is holding him solely at the request of your Administration and, specifically, because you are paying them to imprison him," Van Hollen wrote in a letter to President Trump.
Under the proposed legislation, any security assistance from the U.S. to El Salvador would be prohibited if the Trump administration fails to share reports about deportations.
The legislation was introduced under the Foreign Assistance Act, which requires the Senate to vote on it, the senators said.
"The American people deserve answers on this clear defiance of our nation's constitutional rights and the extent of El Salvador's complicity in this scheme, as well as its human rights abuses," Van Hollen said in a statement Thursday.
Latest in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Since Abrego Garcia's wrongful deportation in March, the Trump administration has been ordered by a federal judge and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return to the U.S.
Abrego Garcia had obtained a "withholding of removal" order from a U.S. immigration judge in 2019, which should have protected him from being deported to his native country.
On April 30, a federal judge denied the Trump administration's request for more time to provide information about Abrego Garcia's deportation and how they are facilitating his return to the U.S.
Judge Paula Xinis has continued to demand answers and compliance from the administration.
Following one of several hearings in this case, Xinis noted that the administration was showing "willful and bad faith refusal to comply" with certain obligations.