Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX) led 14 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing concern for and requesting information about U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents who have been wrongfully detained in El Salvador.
“We write as Members of Congress who believe in a strong U.S.-El Salvador partnership to express our concern for the reported arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and their families under El Salvador’s ‘state of exception,’ which has suspended basic rights and resulted in the arrest of almost 70,000 individuals,” wrote the Members.
In their letter, the Members requested answers to the following questions:
- Has the State Department determined any U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents imprisoned in El Salvador have been “wrongfully detained” since the state of exception began in March 2022?
- How many U.S. citizens or LPRs have been detained in El Salvador since the start of the state of exception in March 2022?
- Has the United States Embassy in San Salvador been regularly notified when a U.S. citizen is detained? How long does the notification process take?
- Has the Embassy in El Salvador been able to meet in person with all U.S. citizens and LPRs detained in El Salvador under the state of exception? At any point have Embassy personnel been denied access to U.S. Citizens or LPRs?
“The Salvadoran diaspora in the United States is an invaluable community in the fabric of American society, and it is the duty of the United States Government to help protect and restore the human rights of our constituents and their family members,” the Members concluded.
In addition to Connolly and Escobar, the letter was signed by the following Members of Congress: Alma Adams (D-NC), Becca Balint (D-VT), Don Beyer (D-VA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Delia Ramirez (D-IL), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
Full text of the letter is available here and below.
Dear Secretary Blinken,
We write as Members of Congress who believe in a strong U.S.-El Salvador partnership to express our concern for the reported arbitrary detention of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and their families under El Salvador’s “state of exception,” which has suspended basic rights and resulted in the arrest of almost 70,000 individuals.
Since the start of the state of exception in March of 2022, President Nayib Bukele has justified the deprivation of constitutional rights afforded to Salvadoran citizens by launching a “war” against the pandillas (gangs), promising to rid the country of gang activity. This campaign has led to the arrest of around 70,000 people, approximately 2% of the country’s adult population, many of whom have been detained for more than a year without access to legal counsel, contact with family members, a fair judicial procedure, or due process.
While we support efforts in Central America to combat transnational crime organizations, narco-trafficking, and violence inflicted against innocent populations, we are concerned by reports that several U.S. citizens, primarily Salvadoran-Americans, have been arbitrarily detained in the state of exception in El Salvador. For example, Nelson Vladimir Hernández Tobar, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, also known as hip hop artist N-Real, was arrested and subsequently languished in prison for five months despite having no criminal record. The U.S. State Department’s July 17 travel advisory for El Salvador states, “Several U.S. and other foreign citizens have been detained under the State of Exception, some in a reportedly arbitrary manner.”
Overcrowding has overwhelmed the Salvadoran jail system, leading to an alarming increase in reported disappearances, due process violations, torture, and unexpected deaths of individuals detained in the state of emergency. As supporters of a strong and equitable partnership with El Salvador, we believe the United States must assist El Salvador in furthering its advances against transnational crime and gang activity. That partnership must include full cooperation on the matter of detained U.S. citizens in El Salvador. We are concerned that El Salvador’s General Directorate of Prisons recently declared it would not release any information on foreigners imprisoned since January 2022 for seven years for national security reasons.
Thus, we respectfully request your response to the following questions:
- Has the State Department determined any U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents imprisoned in El Salvador have been “wrongfully detained” since the state of exception began in March 2022?
- How many U.S. citizens or LPRs have been detained in El Salvador since the start of the state of exception in March 2022?
- Has the United States Embassy in San Salvador been regularly notified when a U.S. citizen is detained? How long does the notification process take?
- Has the Embassy in El Salvador been able to meet in person with all U.S. citizens and LPRs detained in El Salvador under the state of exception? At any point have Embassy personnel been denied access to U.S. Citizens or LPRs?
The Salvadoran diaspora in the United States is an invaluable community in the fabric of American society, and it is the duty of the United States Government to help protect and restore the human rights of our constituents and their family members.
Sincerely,
