House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately signaled Democrats that it was time to stop on a trip to El Salvador, aiming to focus on the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a move that reflects internal tensions over how the party handles border security and immigration enforcement in 2026.
Although Jeffries publicly stated that Democrats were committed to ensuring Abrego Garcia returned from the infamous El Salvador prison, sources told Fort Fort that New York Democrats discouraged more lawmakers from traveling to the country.
A senior House staffer bluntly described the leader’s position: “They want to slow down the El Salvador stuff.”
Fox News Digital contacted Jeffries' office for the report and received no response.
Senator Dem says Trump's Abreg Garcia situation "will not end" and he thinks he is "destroying" freedom
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at a press conference at the Capitol on April 28, 2025. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
This question divides Democrats.
Progressives see Abrego Garcia’s case as a symbol of unconstitutional deportation under the crackdown of new immigrants by Donald Trump. But moderates are becoming increasingly uneasy, suggesting that political risks are the political risks surrounding a format of past characters.
Jeffries once asked Abrego Garcia to "return immediately before being killed", but he has not yet publicly resolved whether he supports the strategy of sending a congressional delegation to El Salvador.
Democrats make mistakes with his own party in the wrong battle over the deported MS-13 suspect case
On April 17, 2025, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md). (Senator Van Hollen's office is through Getty Images)
His spokesman recently dismissed the report that he was retreating from the issue to a “thin source” but did not deny the substance when initially contacted the fort.
The bet is high. As Fox News Digital previously reported, Abrego Garcia, who was deported with more than 200 other people, has ties to the violent MS-13 gang and was named in the 2022 Homeland Security Survey.
D-Ore. Rep. Maxine Dexter spoke at a press conference on the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in San Salvador in El Salvadore on April 21, 2025. (Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images)
Although he was stopped while transporting eight undocumented passengers, Maryland court documents show a history of suspected domestic violence, including a judge labeled "violent criminal offender."
Nevertheless, D-Md's Senators Chris Van Hollen and D-Fla. Maxwell Frost and D-Calif. Democratic lawmakers such as Robert Garcia have flew to El Salvador in recent weeks, raising concerns about Abrego Garcia's detention. Van Hollen's visit specifically triggered an online meme of the now-infamous "Margarita Mengate" incident.
Critics within the party are now worried that the trip to continue to focus on the case and are believed to be sympathetic to deported gang suspects may backfire.
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A Democratic aide told Fort, “There is a moral argument, but it’s not clear that it’s the right poster case, and it’s definitely not the right political moment.”