The White House accused Congressional Democrats of prioritizing “illegal immigrant gang members” rather than their own constituents.
The comments come as Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D‑Md., floated possibly traveling to El Salvador to check on a Maryland resident the Trump administration’s Justice Department admitted it deported to El Salvador in an “administrative error,” should the resident not return to the U.S. by “midweek.”
“It’s mind-boggling the priorities of the modern-day Democrat party,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
“I think it’s atrocious that you have Democrats in Congress on Capitol Hill who swear an oath to protect their constituents and to serve them in Washington, D.C., spending more time defending illegal immigrant gang members than their own constituents and law-abiding American citizens,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt’s comments come after both Trump administration officials and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele agreed Monday at the White House that they didn’t have the authority to return Maryland resident Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration claims has ties to the MS-13 gang.
Additionally, the Supreme Court upheld Thursday a lower court’s order that “requires the government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
While Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Monday that El Salvador would call the final shots on whether it would return the Maryland resident, Bukele said it was “preposterous” for El Salvador to do so.
“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the U.S.? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” Bukele said at the White House Monday.
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Meanwhile, Van Hollen announced Monday that if Garcia did not return to the U.S. by “midweek,” he personally would travel to El Salvador to check up on Garcia’s well-being and release.
“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now,” Van Hollen said in a Monday statement. “However, since the Trump Administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action.”