The escalating legal standoff over President Donald Trump’s wrongful deportation of a man to El Salvador has become a political flashpoint on Capitol Hill.

A growing number of Democrats are embracing the cause of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran native who had been living in Maryland before his removal last month. Some are lining up trips to El Salvador to press for his release — starting Wednesday with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who met with the country’s vice president.

More than just an isolated battle over one man’s deportation, Democrats view the current fight as the “constitutional crisis” they have been warning about after the Supreme Court ruled that the administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. The Trump administration contends it is not legally obligated to arrange for his return even after acknowledging his deportation was in error.

“The Trump administration is clearly in violation of American court orders,” Van Hollen said during a news conference in El Salvador, adding that the U.S. embassy had told him “they’ve received no direction from the Trump administration to help facilitate his release.”

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are lining up behind the Trump administration, which is locked in a heated federal court battle over Abrego Garcia’s return. They are trying to use those same trips to pivot from the legal fight to a proxy battle over illegal immigration — an issue the party believes plays to its favor.

The White House sees advantage in an immigration-focused fight and has “heavily encouraged pushback” from GOP lawmakers, according to a person granted anonymity to describe the private guidance. By Wednesday, more than a dozen had gone on the attack, including members of leadership.

“This isn’t just failed leadership — it’s a complete abandonment of their duty to protect American citizens,” Rep. August Pfluger, chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday. “While Democrats are fighting on behalf of illegal criminals on your dime, Republicans will continue [to] fight for the safety of American citizens.”

Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally around 2011; he was arrested but not charged in 2019, and an immigration judge subsequently ruled he couldn’t be sent to his home country because of a fear of persecution, allowing him to live and work in the U.S. legally. The Trump administration acknowledged earlier this month it had deported him in error.

The hardening battle lines in Congress come as lawmakers are left stuck on the sidelines while the battle over Abrego Garcia plays out in court. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said on Tuesday that she is ordering an “intense” two-week inquiry into the Trump administration’s refusal to seek his return.

But the political fight is likely to grow. Van Hollen took the first of what is expected to be several trips by congressional Democrats to visit El Salvador in the coming days as they try to highlight Abrego Garcia’s detention and build pressure for his release.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the No. 4 Senate Democrat, is planning his own trip, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss his travel plans. And in the House, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said they intend to go to El Salvador “as soon as possible,” as has another Oversight Committee member, Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.). Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) mounted another push Wednesday through the House Homeland Security Committee.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday linked Abrego Garcia’s legal fight to Trump’s flirtation with sending U.S. citizens who committed violent crimes to prisons in foreign countries.

“If the rights of non-citizens are not secure, then the rights of citizens are not secure,” Raskin said during an event with legal and immigration advocates.

Administration officials and congressional Republicans claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13. He has never been charged with activities linked to the gang, and the federal judge overseeing his deportation case has called the evidence flimsy.

House Republicans took their own trip down to El Salvador this week to tour the prison, known as CECOT, where Abrego Garcia is being held. Several posted photos on social media that included prisoners in the background.

“It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country,” Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) wrote in a post on X about the trip, which he led.

Van Hollen indirectly rebutted the GOP criticism during his news conference, saying that he and Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa agreed that the United States and El Salvador should “work together to crack down on transnational gangs like MS-13.” Van Hollen also touted his previous work in Maryland to “crack down on MS-13.”

Even as Republicans defend the administration, some are facing pushback. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was pressed at a town hall meeting Tuesday on what Congress would do to help facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and about the battle between Trump and the courts. “El Salvador is an independent country,” he replied. “The president of that country is not subject to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, is a vocal Trump supporter who offered to use his “iron fist” tactics on alleged criminal deportees in exchange for payments. Trump has suggested that he could someday seek to send U.S. citizens to CECOT, which has been subject to human rights complaints.

Raskin predicted that the pressure would build to the point that the administration will be forced to comply with the courts, predicting “massive backlash in the country” and “international condemnation of what is taking place.” Van Hollen hinted the clash could bubble over into Congress’s funding fights, where Democrats could potentially seek to block any federal spending on deportations to El Salvador.

Not all Democrats are taking the scorched-earth approach, however. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), who co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional El Salvador Caucus and attended Bukele’s most recent inauguration, played to the Salvadoran president’s ego in a statement Wednesday urging him to release Abrego Garcia.

Gonzalez said Bukele should “play the long game” and said he hoped to visit with him soon. “He is still young and would have a lot to offer the world after his presidency. It would be a real disgrace to see him squander what he has achieved,” he added. “The world is watching.”

Meredith Lee Hill and Ben Jacobs contributed to this report.