While most Americans honored fallen service members on Memorial Day, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) spent the holiday attempting to visit a deported illegal alien with reported ties to the violent MS-13 gang.
Ivey traveled to El Salvador in an effort to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is currently being held in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center—an ultra-secure prison designated for the most dangerous gang-affiliated criminals. Authorities denied Ivey’s request for access, citing a lack of proper authorization and national security concerns.
Abrego Garcia was deported from the United States in March 2025 under renewed immigration enforcement efforts led by the Trump administration. He had been accused of domestic violence, involvement in human trafficking, and was previously pulled over while driving a vehicle linked to a known human smuggler.
Today, I was denied access to seeing my constituent, Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. If there is nothing to hide, cut the crap. Let his lawyer and I check on him.
@CASAforall pic.twitter.com/V310GDmIc4— Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) May 26, 2025
Despite his record and incarceration in a prison reserved for gang members, several Democrats have continued to lobby for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. In addition to Ivey, figures like Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Maxwell Frost, Robert Garcia, and Yassamin Ansari have pushed for his repatriation, claiming concerns over his due process rights.
Their campaign has drawn sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers and voters who see it as a reckless move that undermines immigration law and threatens national security. Many argue that Democrats have prioritized open-border ideology over public safety—going so far as to spend taxpayer resources defending individuals detained by foreign governments for suspected ties to terrorist-level criminal organizations.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has made it clear that Abrego Garcia will not be sent back to the United States. Bukele’s administration, known for its aggressive crackdown on gang violence, views Garcia as a threat to public safety and has dismissed demands from U.S. lawmakers to intervene.
The entire episode has once again underscored the stark contrast between the Trump administration’s efforts to restore border security and the radical priorities of the modern Democratic Party. While Americans remembered the brave men and women who died defending this country, one Democrat spent the day fighting to bring back a foreign criminal with gang ties—proving once again how out of touch the left has become.
