


Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is the latest Republican to announce she is visiting El Salvador to meet with its president as the country takes center stage in American politics with President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Luna said she received a “personal invitation” from President Nayib Bukele to travel to the country.
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“Thank you, President Bukele, for standing firm against organized crime. I look forward to seeing you,” Luna said.
In the last few weeks, several Republicans have traveled to El Salvador to meet with Bukele or other officials. Some, like Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Riley Moore (R-WV), shared photos of themselves visiting CECOT, a megaprison in Tecoluca where Trump sent thousands of illegal immigrants after little to no due process.
Luna blasted Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the first Democrat to travel to the country to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant living in Maryland who was deported by the Trump administration.
“Unlike Senator Van Hollen, who drank margaritas with a cartel member, I’ll be focused on strengthening the partnership between our nations, advancing shared commitments to safety, freedom, and national pride as well as discussing our commitments to continuing to fight for human rights,” Luna wrote in a post.
Abrego Garcia’s detention has caused uproars in Democratic circles who argue Trump is orchestrating a constitutional crisis and ignoring due process laws, while Republicans have blasted Democrats for caring more about an illegal immigrant “poster child” than American citizens.
Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Robert Garcia (D-CA) led a congressional delegation to El Salvador on Monday. As of Tuesday, they have not been able to meet with Abrego Garcia.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have also explored their own trips to the country.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation has produced mixed messages from Democrats, while Republicans have been united in referring to him as an MS-13 gang member and domestic abuser, based on allegations raised in court and a temporary protective order Abrego Garcia’s wife took out against him years ago.
Democrats’ trips to El Salvador this week are overshadowing the party’s planned “Cost of Living Week of Action,” led by the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee of which Frost is a co-chair.
DEMOCRATS STEP INTO IMMIGRATION ‘TRAP’ WITH ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is also out of the country during the week of action, announcing on Tuesday that he is leading a bipartisan CODEL to the United Kingdom, Denmark, Israel, and Jordan. Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO) and Amata Coleman Radewagon (R-American Samoa) are the sole House Republicans on the CODEL.
On the Republican side, Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Mike Kennedy (R-UT), Carol Miller (R-WV), Ron Estes (R-KS) and Kevin Hern (R-OK) visited El Salvador, per a photo from the U.S. Embassy. Tenney said she visited CECOT, but it is unclear whether all five lawmakers visited the megaprison. The Embassy’s post, written in Spanish, said the delegation was “visiting the country to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss initiatives that promote economic development and mutual cooperation.”