Democrats celebrate return of suspected human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Yahoo07-06-2025

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who has led the party's advocacy for suspected gang member Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, is celebrating his return to the U.S., saying, "This is not about the man, it's about his constitutional rights."
"For months, the Trump administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution," Van Hollen asserted in a statement sent to Fox News Digital via email.
"Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States."
Van Hollen was the first of several Democratic lawmakers to fly to visit Abrego Garcia after he was deported to a high-security prison in his home country, El Salvador, in March.
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Abrego Garcia, 29, has been returned to the U.S. and is facing charges in a sealed federal indictment in Tennessee for alleged conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens.
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Though many Democrats claim Abrego Garcia is an innocent man who was wrongly deported, the administration has pointed to considerable evidence he is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Abrego Garcia allegedly moved illegal immigrants from Texas to interior states in what prosecutors say was an organized operation stretching back years.
He has also been accused of being a member of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13. According to court records filed by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, he also allegedly physically abused her on multiple occasions.
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Since Abrego Garcia's deportation to his home country, Van Hollen has advocated for his return.
After Fox News Digital asked Van Hollen in May whether he was aware of the domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia before he went to visit him in El Salvador, the senator became defensive, saying, "What I said here was these issues need to be litigated in the courts."
In a statement Friday, Van Hollen doubled down on that sentiment, saying, "As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man. It's about his constitutional rights, and the rights of all.
"The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along."
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Despite the gravity of his alleged crimes, returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S. has become a major cause for the Democratic Party.
Earlier Friday, another Maryland Democrat, Rep. Glenn Ivey, who also made a trip to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia, used his X account to promote an event to continue the "critical conversation on the fight to return those who are wrongfully imprisoned in El Salvador."
Ivey claimed Abrego Garcia's case is "part of a much larger crisis — and we must not look away."
Abrego Garcia's Wife Begged Judge For Protection Order, Saying 'He Slapped Me': Audio
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Ivey also asserted that the Trump administration "defied the Supreme Court and misled the American people for months, saying they could not bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States under any circumstances, knowing that they had the power to do so all along.
"I went to El Salvador and advocated for Kilmar's return because he was entitled to due process under our Constitution. Kilmar will now get his day in court. I hope he receives the fair trial that he is guaranteed."
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also celebrated the news of Abrego Garcia's return, telling Fox News Digital, "I want to thank our federal delegation for their efforts to ensure our government adheres to the rule of law."
"This was never about one person, but about the due process that governs all people in our country. Today due process prevailed," he said, adding, "The federal government will make its case in court, the courts will make informed decisions, and we expect the Trump administration to obey the courts so every person is afforded their Constitutional rights."
Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland's lone Republican congressman, however, responded to the news of Abrego Garcia's return with disgust, posting on X, "What a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Bringing an already deported illegal alien criminal back to the US to be housed in a US jail at taxpayer expense so he can stand trial and then be deported back to his homeland."
Fox News Digital also reached out to representatives Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., all of whom have made trips to visit Abrego Garcia in prison.Original article source: Democrats celebrate return of suspected human trafficker Kilmar Abrego Garcia

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President Lee picks South Korea's first civilian defense chief in 64 years

The Hill

an hour ago

The Hill

President Lee picks South Korea's first civilian defense chief in 64 years

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung nominated a five-term liberal lawmaker as defense minister Monday, breaking with a tradition of appointing retired military generals. The announcement came as several prominent former defense officials, including ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, face high-profile criminal trials over their roles in carrying out martial law last year under then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was indicted on rebellion charges and removed from office. Ahn Gyu-back, a lawmaker from Lee's Democratic Party, has served on the National Assembly's defense committee and chaired a legislative panel that investigated the circumstances surrounding Yoon's martial law decree. Yoon's authoritarian move involved deploying hundreds of heavily armed troops to the National Assembly and election commission offices in what prosecutors described as an illegal attempt to shut down the legislature and arrest political opponents and election officials. That sparked calls to strengthen civilian control over the military, and Lee promised during his election campaign to appoint a defense minister with a civilian background. Since a 1961 coup that brought military dictator Park Chung-hee to power, all of South Korea's defense ministers have come from the military — a trend that continued even after the country's democratization in the late 1980s. While Ahn will face a legislative hearing, the process is likely to be a formality, since the Democrats hold a comfortable majority in the National Assembly and legislative consent isn't required for Lee to appoint him. Among Cabinet appointments, Lee only needs legislative consent for prime minister, Seoul's nominal No. 2 job. 'As the first civilian Minister of National Defense in 64 years, he will be responsible for leading and overseeing the transformation of the military after its mobilization in martial law,' Kang Hoon-sik, Lee's chief of staff, said in a briefing. Ahn was among 11 ministers nominated by Lee on Monday, with longtime diplomat Cho Hyun selected as foreign minister and five-term lawmaker Chung Dong-young returning for another stint as unification minister — a position he held from 2004 to 2005 as Seoul's point man for relations with North Korea.