Why Is a House Democrat Making Nice With El Salvador's President?
Donald Trump is a big fan of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and turns a blind eye to his administration's myriad human rights violations and increasing authoritarianism in exchange for accepting deportees of any nationality.
But why does Bukele also have a fan in Democratic Representative Vicente Gonzalez?
The Texas moderate is the lone House Democrat to have met with Bukele while visiting El Salvador, and toured the country's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, where immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia was once held and where Venezuelan immigrants removed from the U.S. are currently detained. Other Democrats, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, were unable to visit the prison or meet with Bukele on their visits to the country.
'El Salvador is crucial in helping the United States curb the flow of irregular migration and is an important ally in the western hemisphere,' Gonzalez said in a press release after his visit.
Gonzalez's district voted for Trump in 2024 and is 90 percent Hispanic, and also happens to be on the U.S.'s southern border. Gonzales has praised Bukele, claiming that the Salvadoran leader has created for Latin America with his crackdown on gangs in the country.
'I think it's undeniable what he's done has been spectacular, in terms of bringing security to over 98 percent of the population that lived in turmoil for over a generation,' Gonzalez told Politico Magazine. 'He clean[ed] up the most dangerous country in the world and turn[ed] it into the safest in the hemisphere.'
Along with former Representative Matt Gaetz, Gonzalez is a founding member of the El Salvador Caucus in Congress, and now is only one of two Democrats in the pro-Bukele organization along with Representative Lou Correa. That may be due to the fact that Bukele has trolled and mocked other Democrats on social media, who have criticized the Trump administration's deal with El Salvador.
That doesn't seem to matter to Gonzalez, who thinks 'Democrats … shouldn't shy from building a diplomatic relationship with the country of El Salvador' despite the fact that human rights activists in the country have been arrested and journalists have been forced to flee. Perhaps Gonzalez should ask himself how he'd feel if Trump acted like the Salvadoran autocrat.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
29 minutes ago
- Axios
Scoop: DNC rents taco truck to mock Trump on 'TACO' slogan
The Democratic National Committee is commandeering a taco truck to mock Trump's apparent fury at the slogan " Trump Always Chickens Out," or "TACO," Axios has learned. Why it matters: Democrats clearly think they have found a way to get under the president's skin. Trump was asked about the mantra — used by Wall Street traders to predict his response to tariff-induced market dips — at a press conference Wednesday, and he lashed out in response. "Don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question," the president replied. Driving the news: The DNC will park a taco truck outside the Republican National Committee's headquarters on Capitol Hill with a graphic of Trump in a chicken suit and the "Trump Always Chickens Out" slogan. The truck will be there between noon and 2pm on Tuesday and will actually serve free tacos, a DNC spokesperson told Axios. What they're saying: "With his idiotic trade policy, he talks a big game, caves, and then leaves working families and small businesses to deal with the fallout," DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement. "Trump always chickens out — we're just bringing the tacos to match." The other side: "LMFAO. A taco truck? Are they going to be giving out free vasectomies again too?" RNC spokesperson Zach Parkinson said in a statement, citing a past DNC pro-abortion initiative.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Youngkin sets September special election to replace Connolly
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced Tuesday that the special election to replace the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) in the state's 11th Congressional District will be held Sept. 9. Connolly died last month after a short battle with cancer. He had represented the district since 2009. In April, Connolly announced he would not seek reelection in 2026 and endorsed his former chief of staff, Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw, for the seat in May. 'James brings unmatched experience, a depth of knowledge about federal issues, and a steadfast commitment to progressive values,' Connolly wrote in a letter backing Walkinshaw. 'When I took office in 2009, appointing him Chief of Staff was one of the best decisions I made.' The Northern Virginia congressional district, which includes all of the city of Fairfax and most of Fairfax County, leans heavily Democratic. However, several Democrats have launched bids for the seat, including Walkinshaw, state Sen. Stella Pekarsky (D), state Del. Irene Shin (D), Fairfax County planning commissioner Candice Bennett, retired Navy officer Joshua Aisen, attorney Amy Roma, and attorney Leo Martinez. Candidates have until July 11 to file to run for the seat. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Newark mayor sues New Jersey's top federal prosecutor after arrest at immigration detention site
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility, saying the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite. Baraka, who leads New Jersey's biggest city, is a candidate in a crowded primary field for the Democratic nomination for governor next Tuesday. The lawsuit against interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba coincided with the day early in-person voting began. The lawsuit seeks damages for 'false arrest and malicious prosecution,' and also accuses Habba of defamation for comments she made about his case, which was later dropped. Citing a post on X in which Habba said Baraka 'committed trespass,' the lawsuit says Habba issued a 'defamatory statement' and authorized his 'false arrest' despite 'clear evidence that Mayor Baraka had not committed the petty offense of 'defiant trespass.'' The suit also names Ricky Patel, the Homeland Security Investigations agent in charge in Newark. 'This is not about revenge,' Baraka said during a news conference. 'Ultimately, it's about them taking accountability for what they did.' Emails seeking comment were left Tuesday with Habba's office and the Homeland Security Department, where Patel works. The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center has had dramatic fallout. It began on May 9 when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress — Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman — who went to the facility for an oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. Video from the event showed him walking from the facility side of the fence to the street side, where other people had been protesting, and then uniformed officials came to arrest him. As they did, people could be heard in the video saying to protect the mayor. The video shows a crowd forming and pushing as officials led off a handcuffed Baraka. He was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge last month and charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba's office after moving to dismiss the charges. 'The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, followed swiftly by the dismissal of these trespassing charges a mere 13 days later, suggests a worrisome misstep by your Office,' he wrote. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month. Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, opened earlier this year as a federal immigration detention facility. Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which owns and operates the property, was awarded a 15-year contract valued at $1 billion in February. The announcement was part of the president's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year. Baraka sued Geo soon after that deal was announced. Then, on May 23, the Trump Justice Department filed a suit against Newark and three other New Jersey cities over their so-called sanctuary policies. There is no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. New Jersey's attorney general has a statewide directive in place prohibiting local police from collaborating in federal civil immigration matters. The policies are aimed at barring cooperation on civil enforcement matters, not at blocking cooperation on criminal matters. They specifically carve out exceptions for when Immigration and Customs Enforcement supplies police with a judicial criminal warrant. The Justice Department said, though, the cities won't notify ICE when they've made criminal arrests, according to the suit. It's unclear whether Baraka's role in these fights with the Trump administration is having an effect on his campaign for governor. He's one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the June 10 election to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. In a video ad in the election's final weeks, Baraka has embraced a theme his rivals are also pushing: affordability. He says he'll cut taxes. While some of the images show him standing in front of what appears to be Delaney Hall, he doesn't mention immigration or the arrest specifically, saying: 'I'll keep Trump out of your homes and out of your lives.' Trump has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli, one of several Republicans running in the gubernatorial primary. Ciattarelli has said if he's elected, his first executive order would be to end any sanctuary policies for immigrants in the country illegally. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
