Latino Leaders to Trump Administration: Bring Kilmar Abrego García Back
by AV Press Releases
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Media Contact: media@hispanicfederation.org
Washington, DC – This week, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, in an Oval Office meeting, agreed with President Trump that Kilmar Abrego García would not be returned to his home in Maryland, despite being wrongfully deported, and now in a maximum security prison in El Salvador. The meeting came after the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Abrego García must be returned home, yet the Trump Administration is now defying the highest court in the country. This, along with President Trump suggesting that the U.S. might begin sending “homegrown” U.S. citizens to prisons in El Salvador, is the latest shocking development in this Administration’s extreme overreach. Five Latino leaders issued the following quotes:
- Frankie Miranda, President and CEO of Hispanic Federation: “The United States was built on fundamental rights, including the right to be heard in court. Kilmar Abrego García was protected from deportation by a court order and a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling is now calling for his return. He must return home now without delay. Instead, yesterday, we witnessed the Trump administration openly conspiring with a foreign country to ignore and violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Deporting people to a mega-prison in El Salvador, funded by U.S. taxpayers, without due process is another way for the Trump administration to test how far they can push our constitutional system – a violation of the separation of powers and the rule of law. Hispanic Federation calls on the Supreme Court and Congress to ensure our country does not slip further into a constitutional crisis by making it clear that there will be consequences for the defiance of Constitutional rights and the disregard of judicial authority – anything short of that is a repudiation of the founding principles of U.S. democracy.”
- Janet Murguía, President and CEO of UnidosUS, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the country: “This is a straightforward matter – the Administration made a mistake by deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran prison and the highest court in the land agreed unanimously that it needs to rectify this grave error by bringing him home to his American family. Every individual, regardless of immigration status, is entitled to due process under the law. Refusing to assume responsibility and correct a legal mistake denies that basic right and undermines the U.S. legal system. This is unacceptable from the President of the United States and his Administration. This is the worst example of the Trump Administration’s overreach, its harmful approach to immigration and its cruel methods to separate families, including those of U.S. citizen-born children. It is up to the Courts and Congress to ensure that due process and the rule of law are respected, protected and upheld for everyone in our nation.”
- Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice: “No matter how Stephen Miller and the Trump Administration want to spin this, the fact is that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Mr. Abrego Garcia should return to his family. Trump is not a king, we have a Constitution and a system of checks and balances that he must abide by. In the United States of America, we protect people’s rights. The Trump Administration must follow the Court’s guidance and bring Mr. Garcia back. Not doing so has dangerous implications for our rule of law. ”
- “The meeting between President Trump and President Bukele showcased not diplomacy, but rather a cynical alliance between authoritarian leaders willing to violate human rights and constitutional protections for political theater. Let’s be clear: This is not immigration policy. This is state-sponsored cruelty. It is an alliance built not on shared democratic values, but on a shared interest in dehumanizing migrants, dismantling checks and balances, and weaponizing fear to consolidate power,” said Katharine Pichardo, Latino Victory Project’s President & CEO. “President Bukele’s comments, calling migrants “terrorists” without evidence, and dismissing U.S. judicial authority, are reprehensible. However, Trump’s role is even more dangerous. He is attempting to build an international deportation machine that outsources repression, launders human rights abuses through foreign regimes, and undermines every protection enshrined in American law. Our communities are not pawns. We are families, workers, students, and dreamers, people who deserve rights, justice, and respect. There are legal ways by which we can secure the border and our communities and fix our broken immigration system, and Trump’s tactics are not it. Latino Victory will continue to fight for every person targeted by this cruel agenda. We are watching. We are organizing. And we will not let this stand,” Pichardo concluded.
- Hector Sanchez Barba, President and CEO for Mi Familia Vota: “Trump’s meeting with President Bukele was more than just political theater-it’s a disturbing abuse of power and we should be paying close attention. Trump continues to show just how far he is willing to go to ignore the law. Mr. García should be home with his family in Maryland. Instead, Trump and Bukele are defying a court order and keeping him imprisoned abroad.
This is not just about one man. It’s about what it means for all of us when this administration ignores court orders, human rights, and exerts their power to target vulnerable communities. This is part of an administration effort to push an anti-immigrant agenda that criminalizes communities, undermines the courts, and strips away protections. It sets another dangerous precedent- one where personal power is placed above the Constitution, and where the rights of certain communities are not respected.
The kind of leadership Trump wants is clear- one that dismantles justice, due process, and democracy itself. We can’t and won’t stay silent.”
