Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari says she wants to visit man deported to El Salvador prison

PHOENIX — Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari plans to leave the country to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was deported from the U.S. to a prison in El Salvador.

Ansari, a Democrat who represents Arizona’s third Congressional district, said Abrego Garcia was unlawfully deported by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be home in Maryland right now,” Ansari said in a Wednesday news release.

She likened what is happening to Abrego Garcia and other noncitizens residing in the U.S. to the authoritarianism regime in Iran her family fled from.

“I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too,” Ansari said. “That’s why I plan to join my colleagues in traveling to El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and make sure Trump’s war on our Constitution and due process stops here.”

Why does Yassamin Ansari want to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

Abrego Garcia, 29, lived in the U.S. for around 14 years after fleeing his native country due to threats from a gang, according to the Associated Press.

He was deported in March due to a local Maryland police department’s 2019 claim that he was an MS-13 gang member. However, he was never charged with a crime, according to the Associated Press.

Despite a Supreme Court order directing the Trump administration to try to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S., the Trump administration has argued against his return, the Associated Press reported.

That’s unacceptable to Ansari, who called Abrego Garcia’s deportation a constitutional crisis.

“His illegal abduction and the subsequent complete dismissal of the Supreme Court ruling is deeply disturbing,” Ansari said in the release. “Our rights shouldn’t be revoked to propagate Trump’s authoritarian agenda.”

Ansari also pointed to comments Trump made about exploring the idea of deporting criminals who are U.S. citizens.

What’s happening to Kilmar Abrego Garcia could happen to anyone. This is a constitutional crisis.

As a member of the Oversight Committee, I plan to join my colleagues in El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and make sure Trump’s war on our Constitution & due process stops here. pic.twitter.com/6rLg9jnONj

— Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (@RepYassAnsari) April 16, 2025

“He’s already said that he’s ready and willing to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens,” Ansari said. “If this can happen to Mr. Garcia, it can happen to any of us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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