The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) wrote to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele demanding the release of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to one of the country’s most notorious prisons.

The letter, spearheaded by caucus Chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), comes after the Justice Department said Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error” despite a 2019 court order protecting him from removal.

“Mr. President, when I joined your 2024 inauguration as part of a congressional delegation, you and I discussed your aspirations for the Salvadoran people. Mr. Abrego Garcia is a hardworking, law-abiding U.S. resident of Salvadoran descent, and a devoted caregiver to his wife and three children—all of whom are U.S. citizens,” Espaillat wrote in a letter from the caucus.

“For the aforementioned reasons, Mr. Abrego Garcia's detention is neither legal, ethical or beneficial to the interests of the peoples of the U.S. and El Salvador,” the New York Democrat added.

The caucus held a press conference Wednesday with the family of Abrego Garcia. His wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura describing her husband as being “abducted and disappeared” by the Trump administration.

Abrego Garcia is being held alongside more than 200 other men deported by the Trump administration in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known by its acronym in Spanish, CECOT. The Trump administration is paying El Salvador $6 million to house the men for the next year.

In court, Trump administration officials have fought efforts to release Abrego Garcia, saying they no longer have jurisdiction over him now that he is not on U.S. soil and argued they may not be able to “entreat — or even cajole” El Salvador to secure his return.

El Salvador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Bukele is set to meet with President Trump in Washington next week.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to secure Abrego Garcia’s return by Monday, but that was blocked by the Supreme Court, which blocked the order but has yet to weigh the broader merits of the case. 

Espaillat also asked to visit Abrego Garcia at the facility to verify his well-being.

“Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will never stop the fight in the United States to secure his return," he wrote. "I respectfully request that you release Mr. Abrego Garcia from his unlawful detention in CECOT and allow him the space to rejoin his family members in the U.S."

"Additionally, given that his family has not heard from him in nearly 30 days and his well-being remains unknown, I am formally requesting an official visit to CECOT to speak with Mr. Abrego Garcia,” he added.

It’s a request the government has accommodated for the Trump administration.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem filmed a video at CECOT that she later shared on social platform X, showing herself last month in front of men in a crowded cell with bunk beds across three levels.

Abrego Garcia does not have a criminal record in the U.S. or in El Salvador and came to the U.S. as a teen fleeing gang violence.

The Trump administration has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of MS-13 based on a tip from a confidential informant, who claimed he was involved with the international criminal gang in New York. But Abrego Garcia’s family says he never lived in New York, contesting that he has any gang ties. 

The federal judge who ordered Abrego Garcia’s return, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, wrote that his removal was “wholly lawless.”

“Neither the United States nor El Salvador have told anyone why he was returned to the very country to which he cannot return, or why he is detained at CECOT,” Xinis wrote.

“That silence is telling. As Defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador — let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” the judge added.

The Trump administration has suspended the career attorney who admitted that Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported, saying he failed to zealously advocate for the government.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have described the conditions of CECOT.

“Each of the 256 cells is intended to hold approximately 80 inmates but often holds nearly double. The cramped cells are equipped with tiered metal bunks without mattresses, two basins for washing, and two open toilets. There are no windows, fans, or air conditioning, despite the region’s warm and humid climate,” his attorneys wrote.

“Inmates in CECOT are confined to their cells for 23.5 hours daily and cannot go outdoors. They are denied access to reading materials, including even letters from friends or family. Inmates are prohibited from receiving visits from family and friends. Meals are provided through the bars, and the facility enforces strict regulations to maintain order.”