Sanctuary State Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois has directed state agencies to take actions against the country of El Salvador in hopes of influencing the release of Kilmar Garcia Abrego, a deported MS-13 terrorist who was living illegally in Maryland.
“The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” he reportedly said. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power [to] stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”
The Gateway Pundit has reported extensively on the controversy over Garcia Abrego’s deportation and far-left politicians’ attempts to smuggle him back into the United States.
The MS-13 member was deported and returned to his home country by the Trump Administration over his ties to MS-13, which President Trump has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
However, the Democrats and leftist media describe the El Salvadoran illegal and gangster as a “Maryland man” and “father of three,” who was wrongfully deported after a judge previously protected him from deportation when he was arrested in 2019, citing alleged safety concerns if he returned to his home country.
The order blocking his deportation was granted before President Trump designated him as a foreign terrorist, making him “no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States,” says White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
When he was arrested in 2019, he was with two other members of MS-13, and he was known by investigators to be affiliated with the gang, but the judge still allowed him to stay in the country illegally. He was further detained in December 2022 and accused of engaging in human trafficking by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officer. Still, the FBI ordered his release.
Additionally, as The Gateway Pundit reported, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, previously petitioned the court for two different protective orders against Garcia for domestic violence. According to a 2021 order of protection, Garcia Abrego punched Vasquez, ripped off her shirt, grabbed, and bruised her.
This hasn’t stopped radical Democrats from glorifying him and attempting to rescue him from El Salvador’s CECOT prison.
Inspired by Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador earlier this month, where he met and shared margaritas with Garcia Abrego, several House Members traveled to El Salvador to demand his release. Reps. Robert Garcia (CA), Maxwell Frost (FL), Yassamin Ansari (AZ), and Maxine Dexter (OR) traveled to El Salvador on Monday to try to facilitate the release of Abrego Garcia, but they were promptly denied.
Now, Pritzker is asking state agencies to boycott and divest from companies controlled by El Salvador, cancel state contracts with Salvadorian companies, and analyze trade between Illinois and the country.
Per WGN TV:
Pritzker has asked the Illinois State Board of Investment, the State Universities Retirement System, and the Teachers’ Retirement System to review any investments in companies controlled by El Salvador, with the purpose of withholding investments in those companies.
The Governor is also directing the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to identify state contracts with companies that are controlled by El Salvador, with the purpose of stopping them.
And, Pritzker wants the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office of Trade and Investment to send in an analysis of the scale of trade El Salvador has with Illinois.
The action comes as the outspoken Illinois governor positions himself in global affairs, which have included signing trade agreements with the State of Mexico and the United Kingdom, efforts that critics say point to a possible 2028 presidential run.
