Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., suggested that Democrats should not look kindly on any foreign government that “facilitated authoritarianism in our country,” during a discussion about Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Trump administration’s role in deporting him to an El Salvadoran megaprison.
During a conversation on “Pod Save America” on April 18, host Tommy Vietor told Raskin that he spoke to a Latin American policy expert who suggested Democrats threaten to take action against any foreign government “that participates in the extraordinary rendition of American citizens.” Vietor said the expert suggested cutting off future assistance, and publicly “warning” leaders that the Democratic Party was “keeping score.”
“Well, that’s right. We should be talking about cutting off aid to El Salvador right now. The whole idea that Bukele doesn’t have any power to return an American prisoner who was sent to him under an agreement where he’s getting paid $6 million by America is ridiculous. He’s our legal agent in this dubious arrangement they’ve created,” Raskin said before arguing El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and Trump were acting like dictators.
“So I like that idea. And it’s a compliment to something that we need to be doing right now, which is engaging in far more work of transnational democratic solidarity with the democratic governments and the democratic movements and peoples and parties of the world to try to prevent the spread of the lawlessness and the fascist chaos that’s been unleashed against us,” Raskin continued.
‘UP TO EL SALVADOR’: TRUMP ADMIN PUNTS ON RETURN OF WRONGFULLY DEPORTED MARYLAND RESIDENT
“But implicit in it should be the idea that, if and when we come back to power, and we will, we are not going to look kindly upon people who facilitated, to use the word of the day, who facilitated authoritarianism in our country. That’s an assault on our Constitution and on our people,” Raskin continued.
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) last month, and Trump officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which Garcia’s attorneys deny.
Abrego Garcia was recently transferred from the megaprison to a detention facility.
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Four more Democratic lawmakers arrived in El Salvador on Monday to push for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.
Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, and Maxine Dexter of Oregon announced in a press release Monday that they had arrived in El Salvador “to pressure the Trump Administration to abide by a Supreme Court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.” The four Democrats described Garcia as “a Maryland man with protected legal status who was unlawfully deported by the Trump Administration.”
Their visit comes after Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., flew to El Salvador last week to meet with Abrego Garcia.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
