Rally at Lafayette Square Demands Justice for Wrongfully Deported Kilmar Garcia

On May 1, 2025, hundreds of immigrants’ rights activists and labor union members gathered at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on International Workers’ Day to demand the immediate return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal U.S. resident wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March despite court orders to keep him in the United States. Protesters framed his case as emblematic of the Trump administration’s disregard for due process, carrying signs reading “Bring Kilmar Home” and chanting, “A threat to one is a threat to all”. Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Garcia’s wife, delivered an emotional plea at the rally, recounting how her children “live in the silence” of their father’s absence and warning that “if they can take Kilmar, they can take anyone”. Legislative leaders—including Senators Chris Van Hollen, Chuck Schumer, and Tim Kaine—filed a privileged motion in Congress to force the State Department to issue a human rights report on El Salvador’s CECOT prison and to consider suspending security aid if Garcia is not returned. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has maintained that Garcia was lawfully deported as a “violent offender,” a characterization activists vehemently dispute. International observers and human‑rights organizations have condemned the deportation as a breach of both U.S. Supreme Court orders and international due‑process norms