On Wednesday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) held a briefing to show their support to Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his family after he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, good afternoon everybody.
00:16I'm Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
00:21We've been joined today by the family of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
00:32We have with us Jennifer Vasquez-Sura.
00:37We have his mom who's here with us today and his brother who's here with us today as
00:44well, as well as members from CASA, an advocacy group for immigrants' rights.
00:50And we have been also joined by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Congressman Glen Ivey
01:00who represents the district where Jennifer and her family lives.
01:04We've got Representative Joaquin Castro, Chuy Garcia, Nidia Velasquez, Nanette Barragan, Juan Vargas.
01:17And so we want to thank all of you for being here today.
01:20This is an important effort on our part to bring back Kilmar to his family.
01:31He's got three kids and the family is worried.
01:38The children are also anxious and worried and traumatized with their father's absence.
01:50And this is someone that has not broken any laws whatsoever, has been legally here in the
02:01United States of America and was, in my opinion, kidnapped and sent back to El Salvador to El Salvadorian
02:13prison.
02:14And so we are concerned and we're demanding that he's brought back to his family.
02:23We want to hear from the family first because they want to share their story with you.
02:32And I think America deserves to know their story.
02:37We've been joined by Congresswoman Veronica Escobar and the country needs to hear this story.
02:44This effort against immigrants is not just against someone that maybe committed a violent crime and
02:55went to court and was found guilty.
02:59This has impacted people that are legally here, including U.S. citizens.
03:06U.S. citizens that don't fit the profile are also being scapegoated.
03:14They're being stopped, interrogated, and moved around.
03:18I met with one of those folks in New York City, was interrogated for two hours, although he had a federal ID with him and was a U.S. citizen, as were his children and wife.
03:29So we're here for Kilmar today.
03:32He deserves to be next to his family.
03:35He has broken no law.
03:38There is no reason why he should have been sent back to a prison, and we are demanding that he comes back.
03:45And with that, I want to introduce you to Jennifer Vasquez-Sura.
03:51Bienvenida.
03:52Thanks.
03:53My name is Jennifer.
04:00On March 12th, my husband Kilmar was abducted and disappeared by the Trump administration.
04:10It's been 28 days since I lost all my husband, since his children hugged him, since his mother kissed him, since his brother has talked to him.
04:27The court ruled that, indeed, this should have never happened.
04:32The rule that my life partner Kilmar should have returned home 50 hours ago.
04:42Here I am again today, standing before you, needing that you continue to uplift his story and remember his name because the Trump administration and the Bukele administration continues to delay the reunification of my family.
05:07This so-called administration error has destroyed my family's happiness, my children's innocence.
05:16Kilmar, if you can hear me, I'm still fighting for you.
05:26Your brother, your mother, your children are still fighting for you, but we're not going to give up hope to the Supreme Court justice for the right thing.
05:49History will always remember you.
05:56To everyone at home who can still hear my voice and are fighting for the return of their loved ones, keep fighting for Kilmar and all the Kilmars out there.
06:14Let Kilmar's word inspire you.
06:21Si tu eres fuerte, yo seré fuerte.
06:24The administration continues terror attacks, will not keep us silent, ever.
06:31Thank you to CAFTA and our attorneys and all the members of the Congress for standing here today and all the effort in fighting back for my family and all the immigrant community.
06:49Thank you again.
06:50Thank you, Jennifer.
06:51Thank you, Jennifer.
06:52Estamos aquÃ, para la familia de Jennifer, la madre de Kilmark, que está con nosotros, su hermano, sus hijos, que lo esperan en su casa.
07:03Kilmark no ha violentado ninguna ley.
07:07No hay ninguna razón legal por cual él se debe de encontrarle en una prisión en El Salvador.
07:14estar al lado de su familia y sus hijos, su mujer y sus hijos, and families that are
07:24split are vulnerable, they face great challenges, and a collection of split families make a
07:36weak nation. Our nation is strong when the families are together and so we're here to
07:44support that concept and we're going to ask now Senator Chris Van Hollen from
07:49Maryland to come up and say a couple of words. Thank you Congressman, thank all
07:56the members of the CHC and the members who are here and all of you and to
08:01Kilmar's family, to Jennifer, his beloved wife, to Cecilia, his mother, to Cesar, his
08:10brother, we are with you in this fight for justice and we demand, we demand that
08:17Kilmar be returned home now. What has happened here should never happen in the
08:24United States of America. This is a person who was here legally. He was a steel
08:31worker. Congressman Ivy and I are proud to represent him and his family in Maryland
08:39and he was whisked off without any due process and is now in a torturous and
08:51treacherous jail in El Salvador. This is something that is so reprehensible that we
09:00will fight back in the courts and we'll fight back in Congress, we'll fight back
09:05in our communities. But right now of course this is in the courts and I am I am
09:13heartened by the fact that as you said Jennifer, a Maryland judge, Federal District
09:18Court Judge Innes, found and I quote, there were no legal grounds whatsoever for
09:25his arrest, detention or removal. She went on to say, his detention appears wholly lawless,
09:34lawless. The judge pointed out, and again I want to quote, particularly to Abrego Garcia,
09:41the risk of harm shocks the conscience because of the dangers he faces every day in that El Salvador
09:50prison. And the Trump administration is lying. J.D. Vance lied through his teeth when he said that
10:00Gilmore had been convicted of a crime in the United States. Absolutely false. And the Vice President
10:09of the United States should apologize to the family and he should do it now. We also continue to hear lies from the
10:18lies from the administration. And I will point out when the government's lawyer admitted in court
10:27that Gilmore had been accidentally disappeared, the Trump administration put that lawyer on administrative
10:39leave. They punish people who tell the truth and they reward people who lie. And so all the
10:47of us need to make sure that we stand together at this time. And I just want to say again to the family,
10:56we will work with you to make sure justice is done, that Gilmore comes home. And I want to thank you also
11:03for coming forward, to have the courage to do it. And when you do that, you embolden others. Because as you know,
11:10it's not just Kilmore and it's not just your family. We are seeing people being disappeared across the United States. In some
11:19case they're visiting students. In some case there are other people who are legal immigrants. And what you're doing is
11:29standing up, yes, for your family and for your kids and for your husband. But you're also standing up for all those other people right now who are under threat from a wall of
11:37administration. And that's why we all stand with you. And I know that we will prevail. Justice has to prevail. Because I'm not – when this – the Trump administration looks like a more and more of a police state every day. And that's a country that none of us recognize. And we're all fighting for the country we love. Thank you.
12:30Thank you very much.
12:37Thank you very much to the family. I thank you for being strong. You're making a huge difference here, as Chris pointed out. Let me get this straight. The government admits that the
12:58the government admits that they made an error the lawyer who comes into court
13:04agrees with that and acknowledges it and we know that that was that was bothering
13:10the Trump administration because they punished him for having said the truth
13:13when he was in court but then they go to the press conference room and engage in
13:17character assassination and lies I think it's time for them to put up or shut up
13:22bring him back let's get him in court have the day in court the Supreme Court's
13:27had some rulings that came out where they you know they the Trump
13:30administration is pretending like they're ruling in their favor but every ruling so
13:34far has said you get a day in court let's have the day in court and I think if we
13:39get that chance again it'll be just like the lawyer that's on suspension right now
13:43they'll have to acknowledge they lied about his character they attacked his
13:47character wrongly we'll have to point out to them to the sheet metals he's working
13:52he's here in the community he's following the court order that he was under at the
13:56time and instead of doing that they're trying to leave him in a prison in El
14:01Salvador with the gang that he said that he needed to get away from they sent him
14:06to the most notorious prison in the Western Hemisphere it's shocking it's
14:10horrible it's tragic and it needs to change immediately so we stand with you in
14:14support we're going to keep fighting for you with you and I hope that sooner or
14:19later the rule of law will prevail and we'll win this case and he'll come back thank you so much
14:24let me just inform you that I will be writing to the Bukele administration to formally ask for his
14:35release and also to make arrangements to go visit him because the family has not heard from him for over 25 days so we don't know
14:49his condition the family deserves to know his condition and if they don't tell us we will
14:57visit the prison ourselves to go visit him so we expect to do that this week and with that let me
15:05introduce La Luchadora Congresswoman Nidia Velasquez thank you Jennifer we want for you to know and your family that you're not alone
15:21we'll be with you until the end when we bring your son your husband home where he belongs there has been
15:32widespread outrage since Kilmer's disappearance and in response the Trump administration have thrown around
15:40big claims about his character they haven't produced a shred of proof not criminal record no gun ties nothing
15:53they want to act with impunity to put all immigrants on notice regardless of their status but we are here
16:03to send a clear and loud message to the Trump administration this is a nation of law and no one is above the law
16:15this is what happened when an administration decides is above the law when due process is treated like an
16:27inconvenience when immigrant families are seen as disposable and we must take responsibility for
16:36bringing him back the Supreme Court has ruled that people deported under the alien enemies act must still have
16:44access to the courts Kilmer never got his day in court that is a miscarriage of justice and it must be
16:55corrected our country has the power and the responsibility to bring him home if we want to claim to care
17:03about human rights we cannot let this man rob in prison in a foreign prison and if they don't want to act
17:13then congress will keep the pressure on secretary nom secretary rubio this is on your watch
17:22just yesterday i sent secretary rubio a letter demanding answers about kilmer's case and the broader human
17:31rights abuses happening at sitcom you owe us answer you owe this man's family answers and you owe
17:43all the american people an explanation for why the constitution seems optional under your leadership we
17:52will not stop until kilmer is home we will not stop until there is justice thank you very much
18:03thank you now we will hear from congressman joaquin castro
18:07uh thank you chairman uh thank you also to my colleagues who are here to call attention
18:15and to demand that kilmer abrigo garcia be brought home uh to his family i send my support
18:23kilmer is was a working man a husband a father there's something that he was not
18:32a criminal kilmer is not a criminal and he had every legal right to be in the united states
18:44his story and his fate are a cautionary tale for every single american
18:53if this administration will start to strip away the constitutional rights
18:57of people who have the right to be in this country they will start with the people who are vulnerable
19:05whom they can paint as undesirable even if they lie about that and they will slowly move on
19:12to other folks in fact we've seen that start to happen already legal residents have been harassed
19:19daca recipients have been harassed even united states citizens have been harassed by this administration
19:31it makes you wonder whether we're in america
19:36it's up to all of us to stand up for the rule of law to stand up for our constitutional rights to stand up
19:44for kilmer people from across the political spectrum conservative and liberal have spoken out about how scary this is
19:55about how scary the trump administration is becoming and just as reckless and chaotic
20:03as his decisions have been about tariffs so too have these decisions been about this
20:08about deportations and so we join you jennifer and the family in demanding that kilmer be brought back
20:21and i want to say one last word about el salvador a beautiful country but a country with a leader who has become a mercenary
20:30a mercenary who it looks like is complicit in violating human rights make no mistake kilmer and others who have been deported
20:42some on shaky grounds under the alien enemies act are in gulags they are in torture prisons
20:50and president bukele is responsible for that and at some point he also must be held accountable
21:00for that and i want to thank you for that and thank you for that and thank you for your tears
21:18because i think the american people got to see the hurt of so many families in america right now
21:25your tears are joined with the tears of many people in my district in san diego and they form a stream
21:32and throughout this country and they form a river a river of tears because of what's happening to families
21:39now supposedly the administration is the family values administration and yet they're tearing these
21:46families apart so thank you for your courage to come up here and show the emotion that you feel
21:53towards your husband who's been disappeared we don't know exactly where he is and i too never thought
21:59that this would happen in america i spent time in el salvador during the 80s as a jesuit
22:05i was there as a missionary and they disappeared people there too and you never found them again
22:10i never thought that something like that would happen in my own country
22:13where masked people that worked for the government would come and abduct people off the street
22:22so again i want to thank you for your courage i also want you to know that we have two sheet metal
22:27workers right here in the union that came to support you they heard about your husband and they're here
22:33thank you thank you for being here you're not alone we're with you
22:36thank you juan we're now going to listen to congressman chui garcia thank you chairman espayan
22:46good afternoon muy buenas tardes jennifer first i want to say that you are not alone your family
22:53is not alone maryland is with you and people all over the country are with you i am here today because
23:01i want to help put an end to this travesty where people who are doing good by taking care of their
23:10families as kilmar was was kidnapped and winds up in a heinous prison in central america in el salvador
23:21and the question here for all of us is who will it happen to next and the press ought to be thinking
23:29could it be one of them soon if they publish things that are true that are not satisfactory
23:36to this administration that is really the question because we are on a slippery slope we've seen
23:43someone taken from the street and we've seen people in my district nab off the street as well and deported
23:51without any probable cause without an arrest warrant just randomly without a doubt there's racial
23:59ethnic profiling going on we're here today because we care about the constitution but as importantly
24:07we're here because we believe in family reunification and we want this nightmare to end and we want to
24:17prevent further nightmares from happening that only happens when the constitution is respected when there
24:25is due process and when you follow the law esta tarde acompanyamos a jennifer a la mama de kilmer
24:34tambien para decirle que no están solos que tienen amigos y aliados a través de la nación que lo ocurrido
24:42aquà este secuestro no debe repetirse aunque sea visto en muchas partes de la nación este es una violación de la ley y de la
24:54constitución es un ejemplo más la crueldad de la administración trump que este viernes hace vigente la proclamación la orden ejecutiva que crea el registro una de las medidas de la invocación de los enemigos extraños que ha invocado este presidente por eso hay que frenarlo pero por hoy estamos aquà diciéndole queremos que esta familia sea reunida gracias
25:22gracias
25:24thank you chuey we're going to listen now to congresswoman veronica escobal
25:32thank you chairman for bringing us together and to kilmer's wife and brother and mother our hearts are with you completely and we are going to stay with you until he is home
25:45but i want to speak to the american people so that they understand why it's important that they stand with us
25:53the trump administration and many of our republican colleagues are working hard to dehumanize immigrants
26:02to make americans believe that immigrants are not worthy of due process they that they are not worthy of protections
26:10under the law and that they are not worthy of a fair shot nothing could be further from the truth
26:18and the minute that we as americans allow this dehumanization of immigrants
26:25it dehumanizes us as well and we are either going to stand for our shared humanity
26:32and for the law for justice in our constitution and what is right or we all fail together and as my
26:41colleague congressman gastro mentioned this does not impact this lawlessness this violation of the
26:49constitution this inhumanity doesn't just apply to immigrants it doesn't just apply to people who are
26:56legally here we are seeing the administration target anyone who is brown or black and targeting them as
27:06though they are un-american or unworthy of american protections under the law so just as this is
27:13happening to kilmer it will continue to happen to more and more people and you have to ask yourselves
27:21am i next is my family next and so we either stand together as a nation or we will fail together as a
27:31nation and really one of the only reasons we know about this case and about similar cases is because
27:39there is family here with the courage to stand up against the injustices of this administration
27:46my question is how many more how many more innocent people have been targeted how many more innocent
27:55lives have been ruined how many more people do we not know about and how many more are to come and the
28:03trump administration isn't going to tell us they're lying about it repeatedly we have to continue to
28:09demand transparency demand answers demand to see the evidence but we need more americans to stand with
28:17us not just in this room not just in washington dc but across the country and again the minute we allow
28:26the dehumanization of one group that dehumanizes all of us thank you veronica
28:34jennifer doña cecilia cessa estamos con ustedes estamos aquà porque creemos que esta familia
28:46debe de ser reunificada inmediatamente questions
28:50as i said earlier i will be writing to president bukele to formally ask for the release of kilmer
29:14and uh we also want to know his condition so i would also be asking to see if myself and those
29:23that want to join me could travel to go visit him there but uh you know on where he comes next week
29:29i hope i have an answer before his visit here and if i don't then i will ask him again right here
29:39well the president obviously
29:58that's confundido de muchas cosas incluyendo esa y entendemos de que kilmer aquà está el sindicato
30:06al cual él pertenece de trabajadores de construcción de construcción smart inteligente
30:12él es un hombre de trabajo no tiene récord criminal fue secuestrado prácticamente y llevado a una
30:21prisión en otro paÃs en el salvador y no sabemos su estatus no sabemos sus condiciones actualmente el
30:30presidente se confunde diariamente de todas las cosas incluyendo los aranceles pero estamos aquà para
30:39defender a esta familia entendemos de que es una familia que merece estar unida a los hijos de
30:45jennifer y de kilmer necesitan ser una familia de nuevo y actualmente no lo son porque él fue
30:53secuestrado por esta administración next yes can you talk a little bit more about your letter so in
30:59court filings the public administration has said that they feel like they would have to
31:03intrigue or control el salvador for someone return are you hoping that you're able to negotiate by yourself
31:10look uh we feel that there we we know that there are no charges against them there are no charges here
31:19and there are no charges in el salvador he has not been charged with a crime and yet he sits in jail
31:30we believe fundamentally that that is illegal illegal here and illegal there if he has no charges and he's
31:39being held imprisoned in el salvador at the very least he should be released immediately there
31:45yeah but we feel he should come back home to his family next yes yeah can you comment on the
31:51agreement between the irs and dhs to share taxpayer information on undocumented we will take off
31:57topic questions uh afterwards yeah so so nothing has yet made an impression on the trump administration
32:04right they could have brought him back potentially that's the argument um what did you think this effort
32:09will make any difference i think that when you hear a mother speak about what is happening in her home
32:20with her children because her husband and the father of her children is not there
32:25i think that moves this nation and public sentiment in this nation as abraham lincoln said right in the
32:32middle of the civil war is everything and so i feel that jennifer and jennifer's stories could move
32:39mountains not just bring them back home i think she could move mountains she's talking from her heart
32:46she's talking from her children's heart she's here with kilmer's mom and brother this young man has had to
32:53take up the role of his brother to keep this family together we commend him for that i think this is an american
33:03story a great story a great story to be told i don't see how it cannot change anybody's heart if it doesn't that
33:10per that person doesn't have a heart
33:14well
33:23well
33:24nosotros pensamos que la corte realmente erró en no traer a kilmer back
33:29inmediatamente pero todavÃa tenemos esperanzas que ellos van a hacer la cosa correcta que es
33:34regresar a kilmer porque él no violó ninguna ley aquà ninguna ley en el salvador
33:40y él estaba aquà con una persona que tenÃa derecho a estar aquà entonces la corte sabe
33:47esto no más dijeron bueno no vamos a hacer de un modo tan pronto lo hubieran hecho mejor pero ahora
33:53tienen la oportunidad de corregir eso y traerlo para atrás y eso es lo que estamos exigiendo que
33:58traigan a kilmer para atrás para que esté aquà con su familia necesita estar aquà con sus hijos con su esposa
34:08con su mamá y yo creo que lo más poderoso que vimos este este dÃa realmente fue las
34:16lágrimas de una madre y una esposa eso creo que es lo que va cambiar a los corazones de muchos americanos
34:26para ver cómo están sufriendo la gente sin sentido sin justicia y por eso esperamos que también la corte
34:33tenga un corazón y haga las cosas correctas
34:36¿Hasta la pregunta right here? Oh, sÃ, I'm sorry
34:40¿Hi, um, so you already mentioned a few things but is there anything else that you guys
34:47as democratic members of congress can do that pressure the administration or get answers to the family?
34:53and then a quick follow-up just that um have you made any attempts at this point to work with republicans
34:58on this issue and get them well there are three uh avenues that we are taking uh not just for this
35:07particular case but for all other cases which is one in the courts and of course this was already taken
35:13up by the supreme court and we're waiting at any moment for a decision on their part and casa has been
35:20uh leading the the the legal fight perhaps you you want to say uh would you like to say something
35:26about the the court case sure yeah please sure um i think many of you know
35:35i'm a friend pong i'm casa's legal director um and so as just said honestly we are expecting a decision
35:43any moment now it could be today tomorrow right um all filings all evidence has been submitted to
35:52the supreme court um and so we are waiting for a final decision as to whether or not they will order
36:01that kilmer come back home or not um i think you know again many of you know the trump administration's
36:09main argument right now is that they don't have the power to bring him home right their argument is
36:14that this is a salvadoran national and a salvadoran prison in the country of el salvador and so they
36:20don't have power over that but we know the truth right is that really what's happening is that these are
36:27u.s detainees in the custody of the u.s government and the u.s government is simply like renting space in
36:35that prison to hold kilmer and so they can at any moment ask for kilmer to come back and there's been
36:41no indication whatsoever that they have made any attempt to try to bring him back thank you that's
36:47one one one avenue is the legal way legislative and budgetarily we'll have a couple of cracks at that as
36:55we move forward in this session and then finally we're going to organize the community so these are
37:00the three avenues that we're taking legal legislative and budgetarily and then organizing our community
37:07last question right here you expressed an interest in going down to el salvador obviously congress is
37:12out the next two weeks so that you want to have some diplomatic talks first but what's your timeline
37:17for that what are you thinking about going down there we will write to president bukele immediately
37:24and we will try to get a phone call with him and express an interest of going to el salvador to visit
37:32kilmer to ensure that he's healthy he's safe and sound as quickly as possible he's scheduled to be in
37:39washington i think on the 15th the 14th and if we don't get a response by then then we'll ask him when
37:47he's here off topic questions you have one yeah uh back to what i said earlier uh can you comment on
37:54the agreement between the irs and dhs we feel that irs information is confidential information it should
38:00not be shared with anybody uh i don't see them sharing elon musk information with the u.s congress
38:06why should they share americans information with it with law enforcement and i saw you guys sent a letter
38:12that's correct we sent the letter and what exactly do you want them to do with well i mean right after
38:17we sent the letter they they ruled uh they ruled against us so we're just we're not encouraged by
38:23that but we will continue that fight thank you so much everybody
38:32thank you for all the work
38:42thank you