Speaker 1 (00:00):
[foreign language 00:00:02].
Robert Garcia (00:01):
Okay. So I'm going to start in just a minute. I'm going to say some remarks in English. We're all going to say a few remarks, and then I'm going to say some remarks in Spanish, in español, and then we'll open up for any questions. Does that work? Okay.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Okay, great. Thank you.
Robert Garcia (00:16):
Well, first of all, thank you all for being here. My name is Robert Garcia. I'm a member of Congress from California, a Democrat. I'm here with three other members of Congress, Congress Members Maxwell Frost, Congress Members Ansari and Dexter, as well as Chris … Chris Nelson?
Chris Newman (00:34):
Newman.
Robert Garcia (00:35):
Newman.
Maxine Dexter (00:35):
Newman.
Robert Garcia (00:36):
Chris Newman who is the lawyer for the Abrego Garcia family. And so, we're very grateful to be here and we're grateful that Mr. Newman's here with us as well. We'll all just say some brief remarks.
(00:46)
So we're here in El Salvador demanding the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We think it's incredibly important that the law in the United States is followed. Our Supreme Court, in a nine-zero decision, to be clear, has said that Mr. Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States. That's been affirmed by other courts in the US.
(01:12)
We also want to be clear that the Trump administration has admitted, admitted publicly, that he was sent here by mistake. So the administration has said he was here by mistake. The Supreme Court has said bring him back to the United States, and that's what we're here to do.
(01:30)
We're grateful of Senator Van Hollen's work leading up to this moment, but we're here to ensure that he is safe, that he's brought home. We've had meetings this morning with the US Embassy and the team here on the ground. We're having additional meetings here with human rights groups that are here on the ground and other individuals. We've also spoken to the Abrego Garcia family, had a briefing from the family. We want to be just very clear that he needs to come home.
(01:58)
This is about due process. Every person, even if they're an immigrant, a migrant to the US, seeking asylum, or they're on some type of temporary status, they deserve a day in court and due process. That's why we're here, to ensure that the president of the United States follows the orders of the Supreme Court. With that, I'm going to turn this over to Congressman Frost.
Maxwell Frost (02:22):
Thank you, Robert. Well, look, Robert said why we're here. We're here because we believe that the rule of law should be followed by everyone, including the president of the United States. We're in a situation where the administration has sent someone here to El Salvador by mistake, admitted to it. A Supreme Court decision has come down to say, "You need to facilitate the return of this man back to the United States so he can go through due process," and the administration is saying, "No, we're not going to do it."
(02:53)
In fact, we just had a meeting earlier today with the embassy, and we left that meeting with absolutely indication that this administration is going to facilitate or wants to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia back to the United States so he can go through due process.
(03:11)
But we've got to be clear, this isn't just about him. This is also about every single person in the United States. The Constitution applies to all people in our country. Due process applies to all people in our country. It's one of the things that sets our country apart from other places across the entire world.
(03:27)
And so, we're worried, of course. We demand the release of Abrego Garcia. But we're also worried about our own constituents. We represent people across the entire nation. I'm from Orlando, Florida, a community filled with immigrants, a diverse community, and we're getting hundreds and hundreds of calls, people saying, "Go to El Salvador. Do something. Do something about the fact that the president of the United States in the Oval Office is talking about sending US citizens here to El Salvador, to the prison here."
(03:59)
And so, we don't want to wait until things get worse. We're here to build off of the work of Senator Van Hollen, who heroically came down here and showed his family and the world for the first time since he was taken down here that he is alive, that he was alive and he was well at that time.
(04:17)
And so, what we want to know is where is he at now? What is his condition now? His family deserves to know. The people deserve to know. But we're also here to make a statement that this cannot be allowed and isn't allowed in our country. People should know we're not the first here. We're not going to be the last members of Congress to be here in El Salvador fighting and demanding the return of Abrego Garcia and a lot of the folks who were sent here without due process at all. It is one of the core tenets of our country and our Constitution, and we're going to fight like hell to make sure he comes back home to have due process there, but that this doesn't happen to anybody else. With that, I'll pass it over to Rep Ansari.
Yassamin Ansari (05:00):
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari. I represent Phoenix, Arizona. I am here with my colleagues to demand that Donald Trump facilitate the safe return home for Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
(05:12)
The facts of this case are abundantly clear. Mr. Garcia was abducted. He is a father, he is a husband, he's a union member. His union leadership is advocating for him through the building trade, saying that he needs to come home.
(05:27)
He was wrongly deported here to a foreign prison in El Salvador. Our government has admitted that mistake. The Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the land, has said his return home must be facilitated by the United States government.
(05:42)
So we are here today to demand that he is returned as soon as possible. We had a meeting this morning with the embassy here in El Salvador, and from what we have heard, there is no reason for me to believe that our administration, the Trump administration, is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home, and that is simply unacceptable. It's against the Constitution and it defies what we hold so dear in our country, which is due process and the rule of law.
(06:10)
As my colleagues have said, there are so many others. I represent Arizona's Third District, an extremely diverse district, where at our university, 50 foreign students had their visas revoked unexpectedly. We have Afghan refugees who've received notice that they need to return home. We have people who have been detained, a veteran detained and deported by ICE, a veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan.
(06:34)
So this is not just about Kilmar, we need Kilmar to come home, but we are so concerned that if this is allowed to fly, that the Trump administration will be emboldened to continue. Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter just as of 30 minutes ago to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Abrego Garcia, demanding he has access to counsel, and of course, finally, demanding his safe return home, and we will not stop until this is complete. With that, I will hand it over to my colleague Rep. Maxine Dexter.
Maxine Dexter (07:12):
Thank you. So I am Congresswoman Maxine Dexter from Oregon's Third Congressional District. I am very proud to represent the City of Portland. The City of Portland and the people in the surrounding areas have made it clear they want me here fighting for the rule of law, fighting for their constitutional right to due process. They are scared. They want to make sure that we use our power that they have given us to stand up for Mr. Abrego Garcia and everyone else who has been denied their constitutional right.
(07:47)
I am a mother. The idea that Kilmar was detained from in front of his five-year-old son is heartbreaking to me. I am a physician. I take care of people, Democrats, Republicans, it doesn't matter. I take care of people. And that is what we are not doing. We are not, as a country, protecting the health and welfare of people and their rights under the Constitution. It is incumbent upon me as a leader and as an elected representative to stand up for the rule of law.
(08:19)
With that, I will turn it over, speaking of the rule of law, to Mr. Chris Newman, the legal counsel for the family of Abrego Garcia.
Chris Newman (08:53):
[foreign language 00:08:32], okay? My name is Chris Newman. I'm a Los Angeles-based lawyer. I'm here today on behalf of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's family and as their legal counsel to demand his access to rights.
(09:09)
I came here to El Salvador and I should say, first and foremost, I want to thank the congressional delegation standing behind me for their bravery, for their leadership, and for their action in coming down here, despite the uncertainty to try to liberate Mr. Abrego Garcia.
(09:28)
I came here with three distinct goals in mind. Number one, to ensure that Mr. Abrego Garcia is in fact alive today. Number two, to make sure that he's healthy and safe. Then, number three, to ensure that he has access to counsel and to his family as is required by international law.
(09:48)
We know nothing of Mr. Abrego Garcia's whereabouts since the staged photo op on Thursday with Senator Van Holland. We demand to immediately know where he is and to have access to him. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to trust the representations about this case made either by the United States government or by the Salvadorian government.
(10:12)
Indeed, this case is about many things, but above all, it is about truth versus lies. 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.
(10:31)
I'm grateful to all of you, the reporters here in El Salvador, for coming to help us excavate the truth of this case. The truth is that Mr. Abrego is an innocent man who has been deprived of his basic human rights. [foreign language 00:10:49].
Speaker X (10:49):
Thank you.
Robert Garcia (13:32):
So I'm going to make one more comment in English, and then I'll do the Spanish. Then we'll open up for questions. We also want to just be very clear that in our discussions at the embassy, but also in a letter that we have sent to Secretary Rubio and to the US ambassador that we are here because we want Kilmar released. But we also know there are other people here in these prisons that have been essentially given no due process.
(13:58)
We want to highlight the case of Andry Romero, who was an asylum seeker coming to the United States, who was coming to the US and was abducted. He had an appointment through the asylum process that was granted by our government to seek asylum. He's 19 years old. He's a young gay man. He's a hairdresser. His family is incredibly worried. We know that he had had no gang affiliations that anyone is aware of or that they've presented in a court of law. We have not heard from him since the abduction actually happened now weeks ago.
(14:36)
And so, there's a young 19-year-old here in an El Salvadorian prison who we need to know, and we've asked … And this is our plea to the embassy here, is to confirm that he's alive. We've asked to see him, that he's alive or that, at a minimum, his attorneys can do a welfare check on his whereabouts. That is the case of Andry Romero. Very important for us in the United States and hopefully here as well.
(15:00)
And español, [foreign language 00:15:01] by any questions. We'll take any questions that anyone can answer. Are there any questions in English or Spanish?
Speaker 9 (16:11):
[foreign language 00:16:12].
Robert Garcia (17:02):
[foreign language 00:16:19]. Any other questions?
Speaker 10 (17:03):
[foreign language 00:17:05].
Robert Garcia (17:14):
Do you want to do it?
Maxwell Frost (17:21):
Mm-hmm. Yeah, what I would say about this is they're appealing this decision. It's going to go back up to the Supreme Court once again. But part of this is the courts and part of it is the people. It's the whole reason we're here is the people have to continue to ensure that his story is in the news, that we don't forget about this. Part of what the Trump administration does is they do so much that they try to make sure people forget, forget about them breaking the law, forget about them completely ignoring the Supreme Court.
(17:49)
That's part of the reason we're here today. First and foremost, we want him home. Secondly, we want to see him, know he's alive, and know that he's well. But also we want to make sure that this story doesn't go away. There's going to be an end to this story, and the end we want is him home going through due process.
(18:06)
The book is not closed on this. The book is not closed on our constitution and our laws no matter what Donald Trump says. And so, that's part of the reason we're here.
(18:16)
The other thing I want to say too that I think is important to mention is we formally requested to see him today. We were told at our meeting that the government here has denied our request to see him because this is not an official trip, something that both Robert Garcia and I requested from Chairman Comer of the committee that we sit on, which is the oversight committee of the federal government.
(18:43)
And so, again, we're going to continue to do this no matter what. Like I said before, we're not going to be the last members of Congress and senators that are here to make sure that he's released and that our country is following our laws.
Robert Garcia (18:56):
That's right.
Speaker 11 (18:56):
Have you had any other contacts with the El Salvadorian government? We saw President Bukele calling, essentially, Senator Van Hollen? What comments or interaction have you had with the government here?
Robert Garcia (19:08):
We have some additional meetings this afternoon, which we're not going to get into at this moment. What I will say is that I think we've been very clear that the United States Supreme Court is demanding that the Trump administration work to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
(19:25)
We know that our president has a strong relationship with the president of El Salvador and certainly our allies. We have no doubt that if Donald Trump wants Abrego Garcia back in the United States, that Abrego Garcia would right now be back in the United States. This is on Donald Trump. Our president needs to bring and follow the orders of the Supreme Court. I don't know if anybody else wants to add to that.
Yassamin Ansari (19:49):
No-
Speaker 12 (19:50):
Yeah. Thousands of Venezuelan migrants who were deported from the US as well. Bloomberg reported 90% of them didn't have a criminal record in the US. I hear a lot of talk about Kilmar. What have you been doing so far for these other Venezuelan migrants?
Yassamin Ansari (20:03):
I'll say that is also why we're here and the reason why we think this situation is so urgent, because it isn't just about Kilmar. It is the fact that our government is relentlessly going after any immigrant that's trying to come to the United States or is in the United States without any regard for due process.
(20:19)
So while Kilmar's case has been highlighted and we want to see him freed, as my colleague said, we want to see Andry Romero freed. We want to see those Venezuelans. If they have not been convicted of a crime, they should not be in prison here.
(20:31)
So this is about all of it. This is about due process for everyone. It is just completely egregious that the United States government had these legal processes set up like the CBP One app. People trusted us. Our allies and folks coming into our country trusted that those systems would work, and we turned our backs on them and instead illegally deported them off to a prison where they have no answers, no access to counsel, no anything. So we want to see due process for all of those folks.
Speaker 13 (20:57):
[foreign language 00:20:58]-
Speaker 14 (20:57):
Have you taken legal steps in El Salvador … You've talked about going through the diplomatic route with President Bukele, but are you taking action here legally? Because we also don't know what the agreement entails in El Salvador. I
Robert Garcia (21:13):
Yeah. I don't think we have any comment on that.
Maxine Dexter (21:15):
[inaudible 00:21:15].
Chris Newman (21:16):
No, we have no comment on that.
Robert Garcia (21:16):
Yes-
Maxwell Frost (21:16):
We have no comment on that. We're members of the United States Congress. We're here on behalf of our constituents, because if this is going to happen to Abrego Garcia, happening to people from Venezuela, happening to so many people, it can also happen to our constituents. Any day now it could happen to citizens because the president himself said that in the Oval Office. This is an affront to our laws and that's why we're here. We're here doing our jobs. We're representing the people that we were elected to represent. We're not waiting until it gets so bad that there's nothing we can do. There's something we can do right now. There's something we can do.
Robert Garcia (21:47):
Any other questions? I'm going to say one more thing. Also another question and I'll have Congresswoman Dexter respond. I think it's really important for the people of El Salvador to know that if you look at recent polling in the United States that just happened two days ago, a majority, a strong majority of Americans believe that we should not be sending migrants without due process to El Salvador or any other foreign jail. The majority of Americans believe that what's happening here in El Salvador, the American people believe what's happening here in El Salvador, is wrong and should be stopped. I think people need to understand and know that. Any final question? Final question.
Speaker 15 (22:26):
[foreign language 00:22:26].
Chris Newman (22:26):
[inaudible 00:22:55].
Robert Garcia (22:59):
So just English to Spanish. So just to be very clear, both Congressman Frost and I requested an official CODEL, congressional delegation trip. The only members of Congress that have seen, for example, gone to CECOT, gone to the jail, have been Republicans. There actually have been CODELs that have just been Republican members of Congress only. No Democrat has been allowed to go there.
(23:22)
And so, we as Democrats believe that Democrats should also be allowed to go. So Republicans control the House. They told us that we cannot go on an official trip, but that's not stopping us from going.
(23:34)
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which you were just asking about, we're both members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. We understand that there's still interest, of course, for members to come visit. I think that's all I can comment about that. Do you want to add?
Maxine Dexter (23:47):
I do want to add that what our government is doing, paying for people to be imprisoned in El Salvador, was with the guise of these are criminals, and that has not been proven. You cannot prove criminality beyond a doubt without due process.
(24:03)
So we are using taxpayer dollars in the United States to break our constitutional laws and put people in prison on the taxpayers. This is without a doubt illegal, immoral, and we must continue to stand firm, up for the rule of law and for the rights of people. I hope that we are the first of many to come here until this is resolved in our courts.
Robert Garcia (24:28):
We're going to close this out. Last thing that was just mentioned, really important. You were asked about the contract. So members of Congress, we absolutely want that contract between the United States and El Salvador to be made public. So we should understand what funds are being transferred over to support the prisons, and we should make that public. [foreign language 00:24:49]. All right. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you guys.
