Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has threatened nations that, in his words, “enabled authoritarianism in our country,” warning that Democrats will not view foreign leaders favorably when his party regains power.
Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, referenced El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s support for former President Donald Trump’s deportation policies.
“If and when we come back to power – and we will – we are not gonna look kindly upon people who facilitated authoritarianism in our country,” Raskin said on Pod Save America with host Tommy Vietor, according to the New York Post. Vietor, a former spokesman for President Barack Obama, shared that a Latin American policy researcher advised Democrats to “threaten action against any foreign government complicit in the extraordinary rendition of American citizens.”
“The whole idea that Bukele doesn’t have any power to return an American prisoner who was sent to him under an agreement where he’s getting paid $6 million by America is ridiculous,” Raskin said. “He’s our legal agent in this dubious arrangement they created. Of course, he’s got the power to return them.”
Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal alien gang members to El Salvador. Some of these individuals have been detained in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison.
The Trump administration deported Carlos Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, to El Salvador, initially calling it an “error,” though officials later justified the action, alleging MS-13 ties—a claim his attorneys reject, the New York Post said.
Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has faced legal hurdles.
In March, Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act for deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador without due process, citing violations of judicial orders. Facing administration defiance, he initiated contempt proceedings, alleging bad faith in rushing deportations, including that of Carlos Abrego Garcia, despite a 2019 court protection.
Bukele, during a recent White House meeting with former President Donald Trump, addressed the deportation of Carlos Abrego Garcia, saying he lacks the authority to return him to the U.S. and dismissing such requests as “preposterous.”
“Donald Trump is a convicted criminal. Could he be sent off to a foreign prison?,” Raskin said at another point in his discussion with Vietor.
“We’ve got to become the leaders of a nationwide popular movement to arrest the descent into fascism in America,” the House Democrat added. “These people really believe that democracy is defunct. They say we live in a constitutional America.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 04/22/2025 – 19:40
