FOUR HOUSE DEMOCRATS FLY TO EL SALVADOR TO VISIT ABREGO GARCIA

“We are battling in Congress, the courts, and in communities across the land to stop Republicans from raising costs and making life harder for the American people,” DPCC leaders said in a statement. “While Republicans are on the run, Democrats will be on the ground sharing our message in every corner of the country.”

However, one of its co-chairs, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), was among a group of lawmakers who joined a congressional delegation to El Salvador to meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was detained in the country’s megaprison as part of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

After entering the U.S. illegally, Abrego Garcia was deported to his native country of El Salvador despite a 2019 judge’s order barring him from being sent there over fear of violence. The Trump administration acknowledged in court that the Maryland man was mistakenly sent to El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia’s deportation has produced mixed messages from Democrats, and Monday’s optics did not help. Frost and Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Maxine Dexter (D-OR) began the final week of recess, intended to be used as an opportunity to highlight high inflation and costs in their districts, by traveling to El Salvador to see Abrego Garcia.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the four lawmakers’ offices to find out when they will return and if there will be any cost-of-living week of action events in their districts.

Frost said in a Fox News interview from El Salvador on Monday afternoon that they had not met with Abrego Garcia and were unaware of his whereabouts after he was transferred from the megaprison to house suspected terrorists. His interview didn’t mention the economy or the cost-of-living week of action.

Ahead of the two-week Easter recess, House Democrats and a handful of senators announced they would hold days of action to raise the alarm on what they believe is a Republican assault on Social Security and Medicaid, as well as target Trump’s “broken” economic policies.

Last week’s days of action on beneficiary programs were usurped by Abrego Garcia’s deportation, which caused an uproar in Democratic circles. Many accused the Trump administration of violating Abrego Garcia’s due process rights and demanded his return.

“I’m not here to litigate even a very specific person,” Frost told Fox News. “I’m here to talk about the fact that he represents a very big problem with this administration, that they have no problem scooping somebody up based on tattoos and vibes and sending them to a foreign country’s prison.”

While Democratic leadership wants to focus on the economy, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) started the trend by traveling to El Salvador last week to sit down with Abrego Garcia. The White House has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang and vowed never to bring him back to the United States, despite a lower court and the Supreme Court ordering the Trump administration to facilitate his return.

“The highest court in the land told Donald Trump what to do — facilitate him coming back to the country. And guess what they did? They flipped the bird to the Supreme Court,” Frost said.

For certain Democrats, the wrongful deportation and Trump’s unwillingness to bring him back to Maryland after court rulings amount to a constitutional crisis. However, for Republicans who were elected in part on a promise to close borders and mass deport illegal immigrants, Democrats’ embrace of a man who came to the U.S. illegally furthers the GOP’s political narrative that Democrats are out of touch with Americans.

“Democrats care more about illegal aliens than American citizens,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) said in an X post. “They’ll roll their eyes if you say that. But it’s true. They’ve never shed a tear for American communities destroyed by mass migration. But they’ll fly to El Salvador for a photo op with a deported criminal.”

One House Democrat, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told the Washington Examiner that the four Democrats traveling to El Salvador are “like four of the most blue districts in the country.”

“Ansari is the bluest district in the country. Maxine had a really rough primary, and she won it with AIPAC money, and then the progressives in the district are mad at her. Makes sense for her to go. Those are folks that make sense for them to go,” the Democrat said.

The Democrat said the party’s focus on Abrego Garcia should not be seen as undercutting Democratic leadership or the economic week of action.

“I think this whole notion that we need to focus on the economy is not the right tactic,” the Democrat said. “I think if they flip the zone at us, we should flood it back, and we should criticize everything because not everyone cares about tariffs … But they might be paying attention to immigration.

“We have to talk about everything right now,” the Democrat added.

The economy and border security were the top issues in the 2024 election. Trump’s promises to fix the economy on “Day One” helped sway historically blue voting blocs to his side, but it also paved the way for a strong Democratic 2026 messaging platform should the president’s economic policies fail to provide relief for working-class families.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on ABC News’s This Week that Democrats “have to continue to talk to the American people about our plans” when announcing the start of the cost-of-living week of action.

“We recognize that housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, utility costs are too high, child care costs are too high, insurance costs are too high,” Jeffries said Sunday. “America is too expensive. Now, Donald Trump is the president. And in terms of his approval as it relates to the economy, it was his biggest strength on January 20th. Now, it’s his greatest weakness.”

However, not all House Democrats have followed leadership’s cues on the days of action. A House Democrat told the Washington Examiner they “don’t really care what leadership is telling us to do” because the days and weeks of action are a “one size fits all.” Messaging will vary from a progressive district to a vulnerable swing district, they said.

“I get what leadership is trying to do, but it’s really hard right now,” the lawmaker said. “You’re never going to have a unified message at a time where we don’t have the White House, and we have 200+ House districts and 47 Senate states. So, you know, everyone’s got their own way of messaging things.”

Several Democrats are holding cost-of-living town halls, roundtable discussions, and local site visits — events that have grown in popularity in the party since the GOP trifecta took effect. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), who represents a district with federal workers and manufacturing companies, told the Washington Examiner in an interview that he has hosted “living room” town halls where a smaller group gathers to understand his constituents’ concerns.

“The town halls are a great way to talk to our constituents, hear from them, and give them a voice,” Subramanyam said. “But some folks actually like having more intimate forums with no cameras or hundreds of people listening on. Sometimes we get the best stories by just going to people’s homes, talking to them.”

Democrats have been holding in-person events in blue and red districts, particularly after House Republican leaders encouraged their members to avoid in-person events due to the backlash from rowdy constituents and activists.

Within the first few months of 2025, Republicans have been hammered for their budget resolution, which calls for trillions of dollars in spending cuts that Democrats and nonpartisan groups expect will run right through Medicaid.

Republicans are currently in the hot seat for the ramifications of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which rattled stock and bond markets for days before he announced a 90-day pause last week. 

Economists have predicted a rise in inflation due to the tariffs, which Democrats have latched on to as proof that Trump’s pitch to fix the economy was one of several “broken promises.”

DEMOCRATS STEP INTO IMMIGRATION ‘TRAP’ WITH ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) warned fellow Democrats that Abrego Garcia’s detention, as well as the other deportation flights, are just shiny objects to distract from the economic turmoil.

“Don’t get distracted by distractions, we say. And here, we zig and zag,” Newsom said during a press conference last week. “This is the debate they want. … Those that believe in the rule of law defending it, but it’s a tough case, because people are really — are they defending MS-13? Are they defending, you know, someone who’s out of sight, out of mind in El Salvador?  I mean, we’re perfect sheep.”