NEWS: Sanders Statement on Trump’s Illegal Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

NEWS: Sanders Statement on Trump's Illegal Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

• April 14, 2025

BURLINGTON, Vt., April 14 - In an Oval Office meeting with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador, President Trump failed to demand the release of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported from the United States and sent to a Salvadoran prison. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement in response:

Just a few weeks ago, the Trump administration admitted that the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father of three who has been in the country more than decade, was an "administrative error."

Then, the U.S. Supreme Court - in a 9-0 decision backed by every Trump-appointed justice - ruled that the administration must bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.

Now, in open defiance of the Supreme Court and without any evidence, the White House claims that Abrego Garcia is a "terrorist," who was "sent to the right place."

This is a blatant LIE. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, "To this day, the Government has cited no basis in law for Abrego Garcia's warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison. Nor could it. The Government remains bound by an Immigration Judge's 2019 order expressly prohibiting Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador."

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an innocent man and the father of three. He must not be allowed to rot in an El Salvadorian jail based on lies and defiance of our Constitution. He must be brought home immediately.

This is just another step forward in Trump's move toward authoritarianism.

Fight back!