Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., told a reporter to “f*ck off” when questioned about her party’s support for an alleged MS-13 member. The remark came after Daily Caller News Foundation reporter Myles Morell asked if more Democrats should travel to El Salvador to advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Garcia was recently deported by the Trump administration.
“Do you think more of your Democratic colleagues should be traveling to El Salvador to advocate on behalf of Abrego Garcia?” Morell asked. Omar didn’t answer directly. Instead, she fired back, “I think you should f*ck off.”
Morell asked her to clarify. “I’m sorry, what, congresswoman?” he said. But Omar repeated the profanity and walked away without addressing the question further.
Four Democratic representatives and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited El Salvador to support Garcia. They argued that his deportation was unjust and politically motivated. But police records and court documents paint a different picture.
Garcia reportedly smuggled people into the U.S., had ties to MS-13, and abused his wife. An immigration judge ordered him deported in 2019. Garcia had illegally entered the country in 2011 and later claimed he’d face persecution if sent back.
A judge granted Garcia “withholding of removal” in 2019, protecting him from deportation. But the Trump administration later designated MS-13 and similar groups as foreign terrorist organizations. Officials argued that Garcia’s protected status was invalid.
The White House called his deportation a clerical error. On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration must “facilitate” his return. But El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, pushed back days later.
“I will not smuggle this man back into the U.S.,” Bukele said on April 14. He refused to comply with the ruling, framing the issue as a matter of national sovereignty.
Trump commented on the case in an interview with ABC News. “I could” secure Garcia’s return, he said Tuesday. He didn’t elaborate on how or when that might happen.