Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker has instructed state officials to examine boycott options against El Salvador as a response to the Central American government’s unwillingness to turn over an alleged MS-13 gang member tied to human smuggling and accused of domestic abuse.
Several Illinois pension funds have been directed to review whether they are invested in any companies owned or managed by the Salvadoran government and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services has been ordered to identify any procurement contracts that have been granted to companies controlled or based in El Salvador, according to a Wednesday press release by Pritzker’s office. The measures follow the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an illegal migrant formerly living in Maryland — to El Salvador.
“We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” Pritzker said in a prepared statement. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”
In addition to potentially ending procurement contracts and divesting from Salvadoran-tied companies, the governor is directing state officials to examine trade between Illinois and the Central American country.
Pritzker’s announcement makes him the latest Democrat to publicly take action on behalf of Abrego Garcia, who was never a citizen or legal resident of the U.S. Maryland Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen and four House Democrats recently travelled to El Salvador to demand the illegal migrant’s return to the U.S.
National attention surrounding Abrego Garcia began when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March and deported to his home country of El Salvador, where he was transferred into the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison built to house MS-13 gang members and other heinous criminals.
Democrats have repeatedly accused the Trump administration of unlawfully repatriating Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, as he previously obtained a withholding of removal order that prohibited him from being sent back to his home country. While federal prosecutors have acknowledged that his deportation was the result of an administrative error, the administration has stood by his removal, pointing to the fact that he was living in the U.S. unlawfully and credibly accused of being a gang member.
Since his initial removal, more alleged details concerning Abrego Garcia’s time in the U.S. have resurfaced.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier in April released a domestic violence restraining order previously sought by Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, in 2021. Despite now publicly advocating for his return, Sura once claimed that her husband repeatedly became aggressive and hurt her during their marriage, swearing in court documents that he once “punched, scratched me on my left eye, leaving me bleeding,” among other alleged beatdowns.
Abrego Garcia was once pulled over and suspected of human smuggling in 2022 when an officer with the Tennessee Highway Patrol noticed he was driving eight individuals with no apparent luggage in the vehicle, despite the fact that he was allegedly driving everyone from Texas all the way to Maryland. The vehicle Abrego Garcia was driving belonged to another individual who was found guilty of smuggling illegal migrants in 2020, DHS confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Department of Justice also released documents relating to Abrego Garcia’s 2019 arrest in Prince George’s County, Maryland, relating to alleged gang activity. A “past proven reliable source” informed law enforcement that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 following his 2019 arrest, allegedly identifying his nickname and rank within the gang.
An immigration judge and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals found accusations of gang affiliation to be credible, according to court documents provided by the DOJ.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, an ally of the Trump administration, made clear during an April White House meeting that he won’t be handing Abrego Garcia back: “Of course, I’m not going to do it. I mean, the question is preposterous.”
Pritzker, who has voiced strong opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda since President Donald Trump re-entered office, is viewed as a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential contest.
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