April 28, 2025

Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Walk Back Dangerous Claims He Will Transfer U.S. Citizens to a Foreign Prison

Senators also call for immediate return of Maryland father wrongfully deported to El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Washington D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today demanded Donald Trump immediately rescind the dangerous and offensive claim that he may transfer incarcerated U.S. citizens to El Salvador.

In a letter to Trump, the senators also urged him to follow the law and adhere to all applicable court orders to immediately facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. The senators underscore how these unprecedented actions threaten the constitutional protections of all Americans and violate the fundamental principles on which this nation was founded, noting Trump’s flagrant disregard of a Supreme Court order to rightfully return Abrego Garcia and “ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” 

“With regard to your shocking assertion about transferring Americans to El Salvador, you cannot deport Americans to a foreign country for any reason. This nation’s founding fathers declared independence based on ‘repeated injuries and usurpations’ by the then-King of Great Britain, including ‘transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences’ and ‘depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.’ Accordingly, Congress has passed no provision into law that would permit exiling United States citizens to a foreign country for any reason.  One conservative legal scholar called your threats to deport U.S. citizens ‘obviously illegal and unconstitutional,’” the lawmakers wrote. 

“Our laws also do not allow you to send individuals from U.S. soil to El Salvador without due process. Further, the Executive Branch must comply with longstanding domestic and international law that prohibits the United States from transferring any person from our jurisdiction or effective control to a place where the person would face certain serious human rights violations. Your Administration’s actions in sending individuals to a Salvadoran prison notorious for inhumane conditions underscore the urgency and applicability of these requirements. The bedrock principles of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause protect individuals from being “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,’” the lawmakers continued. 

“You must immediately facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia, which is unquestionably within your power to do since your Administration is paying the government of El Salvador to detain him… You must also end your unlawful attempts to deport noncitizens without due process under the Alien Enemies Act, as the Supreme Court ordered this weekend. You have no authority to openly defy court orders requiring you: (1) to return someone who has been wrongfully deported, or (2) to grant individuals the due process they are owed under our laws… You must immediately facilitate the return to the United States of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, follow all court orders, and withdraw your dangerous and offensive claims that you may transfer U.S. citizens to a foreign prison. The Constitution demands it,” the lawmakers concluded. 

The letter, led by Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was co-signed by U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), in addition to Wyden and Merkley.

Full text of the letter is here.