(23 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Portland, Oregon – 22 April 2025
1. Wide shot of U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter arriving for press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Maxine Dexter, (D) Oregon:
“We tried to see Kilmar (Abrego Garcia). We requested that through the embassy ahead of time. I was denied access as were all members of the delegation. That refusal only further deepens our concerns for his and all being detained’s safety.”
3. Close of Dexter speaking to reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Maxine Dexter, (D) Oregon:
“Honestly, we weren’t convinced we would be able to meet with Abrego Garcia. The point was to continue to raise the question about why the Trump administration is not taking action to facilitate his return in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling. We want to keep this in the press cycle. We want to keep it in the public eye. We want people to understand the crisis that literally is right here, right now. So for us to go, we know that we will not be the last congressional members to go, and we hope that is the case. Because this is a red line in the sand that America is stepping over into no rule of law.”
5. Close up of House of Representatives logo in podium
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Maxine Dexter, (D) Oregon:
“But right now our democracy is sick. And I’m a physician, and I’m willing to step in when someone is sick. Because that is my training, that is my discipline. And when I see that our democracy is sick right now, I don’t feel it is OK for me to stand back and wait for someone else to take charge.”
7. Mid of Dexter as she leaves the podium
STORYLINE:
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon spoke to reporters at the Portland airport on Tuesday after returning from El Salvador, where she had traveled with three other House Democrats to demand the release of a man the Trump administration deported to a Salvadoran prison and has refused to help return — even after the Supreme Court ruled that it was the government’s duty to do so.
Dexter and Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California arrived Sunday in the Central American nation to investigate the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had lived in the United States for more than a decade. The Trump administration deported him, a move that administration officials have said in court filings was done in error.
Dexter told reporters the delegation requested to see Abrego Garcia but was denied access.
She said his family was "deeply concerned" about his health and safety, as neither they nor his attorney had been in contact with him since last week.
Despite a Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Trump administration to help facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, the administration has said it has no power to bring him back, a position being scrutinized by federal courts as potentially in violation of judicial rulings.
In a news conference Monday in El Salvador’s capital, the Democratic representatives and Abrego Garcia’s lawyer said they were in El Salvador "demanding his safe return home."
The group said they hoped to continue to pressure authorities for his release, and that their petition to meet with Abrego Garcia was denied.
The quartet’s trip comes after U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland traveled to El Salvador last week and met with Abrego Garcia and Salvadoran officials.
Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland with his wife and three children, who are American citizens, before he was deported on March 15.
—
AP video by Claire Rush
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