After visiting El Salvador, SoCal Rep. Robert Garcia advocates for return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach, is calling for immediate action following his recent trip to El Salvador. During the visit, he and three other House members met with officials at the U.S. Embassy to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

"To be clear, we were denied an official congressional trip by House Republicans, but we decided we would go anyway because at this moment we have to be there advocating in our country but also on their behalf there," Garcia told reporters Tuesday

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who was living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to a prison in El Salvador. The removal occurred despite a 2019 court ruling that granted him protection from deportation due to fear of persecution.

"A judge basically said he was able to be here in the U.S. Regardless, the Donald Trump administration sent Kilmar to El Salvador to a foreign prison and then admitted that they made a mistake," Garcia said. "Now the Supreme Court has voted in a 9-0 case to bring him back to the U.S. and Donald Trump is saying that he will not do so."

"In the 20 years that I have practiced immigration law, I have never seen so much fear within the immigrant community," immigration attorney Alex Galvez said.

Galvez said the case has sent shockwaves through immigrant communities.

"There's no doubt that this Abrego case has been a game changer to the mental state of all these immigrants," Galvez said.

The Trump administration alleged Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, a claim that Galvez said lacks evidence.

"The American government and the immigration here in the U.S., nor (Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele) or his government, has ever given an iota of evidence claiming that he was a member," Galvez said.

The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to help facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. But the administration claims it has no power to bring him back.

"This is just not an immigration story; this is a human rights story. This is a story about our Constitution," Garcia said.

Garcia said as an immigrant himself, this case is very personal to him and he will continue bringing attention to this issue.