EXCLUSIVE: RSC members sound off on Democrats' immigration priorities: They "champion foreign criminals"

THE LOWDOWN:

• At least one Democrat — Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) — is traveling to El Salvador to demand the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who the Trump administration recently sent to his home country.

• Republicans from the House of Representatives to the White House have been directly comparing the Democrats’ relative silence about the murder of Morin, an actual Maryland woman, to their strident advocacy on behalf of Garcia — who has been portrayed repeatedly as a “Maryland man” in liberal media outlets, despite his immigration status.

• "Democrats are fighting to protect a gang-affiliated illegal alien with an alleged history of violence against women while American taxpayers foot the bill for their international rescue mission," Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas), who chairs the RSC, told the Reporter.

• While the main connection between Morin’s murderer and Garcia is the both are illegal immigrants from El Salvador, RSC members were quick to use the two sagas to emphasize the need for secure borders.

At least one Democrat — Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) — is traveling to El Salvador to demand the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who the Trump administration recently sent to his home country.

For Republicans in Congress, this has been a golden opportunity to spotlight the Democrats’ prioritization of illegal immigrants over American citizens, as several members of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) exclusively told the Washington Reporter.

"Democrats are fighting to protect a gang-affiliated illegal alien with an alleged history of violence against women while American taxpayers foot the bill for their international rescue mission," Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas), who chairs the RSC, told the Reporter.

"These lawmakers rush to El Salvador for gang members but won't spare five minutes for Rachel Morin's grieving family or address the effects of Biden's border catastrophe that has devastated our country,” he continued. “While Democrats champion foreign criminals, Republicans stand firmly with American victims."

Republicans from the House of Representatives to the White House have been directly comparing the Democrats’ relative silence about the murder of Morin, an actual Maryland woman, to their strident advocacy on behalf of Garcia — who has been portrayed repeatedly as a “Maryland man” in liberal media outlets, despite his immigration status.

The Reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during one of this week’s White House press briefings about the juxtaposition between Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador on behalf of Garcia and his fairly muted response to the murder of Morin, his constituent.

Morin’s murderer, an illegal immigrant, was convicted of all counts this week. The day after the conviction, Leavitt hosted Morin’s mother at the White House press briefing and allowed her to speak about Van Hollen’s trip.

“To have a senator from Maryland who didn’t even acknowledge or barely acknowledge my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother and now a grandbaby without a grandmother, so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that’s not even an American citizen,” Patty Morin said.

While the main connection between Morin’s murderer and Garcia is the both are illegal immigrants from El Salvador, RSC members were quick to use the two sagas to emphasize the need for secure borders.

“If there was an award being given out for the PR stunt of the year, likely paid for on taxpayer dime, it would easily go to Senator Van Hollen,” Rep. Mark Harris (R., N.C.) told the Reporter. “Open border Democrats are eager to put on a show of support for a violent MS-13 gang member who came here illegally, has a track record of aggression toward his wife, and is suspected of human trafficking. It is utterly ridiculous.”

“Where was the senator when Maryland mother Rachel Morin was brutally murdered by an illegal alien, or when thousands more Marylanders died from fentanyl overdoses?” Harris said. “Democrats are totally unserious and out of touch with reality and the American people.”

Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.) echoed Patty Morin’s point from the White House podium in his remarks to the Reporter.

“Democrats have long ignored the tragedy of Rachel Morin, who was killed by an illegal from El Salvador, yet they’re willing to travel to that same country for an illegal with known gang ties,” Moore said. “Democrats continue to show us that their priority is not the American people.”

“We can all sleep easier at night knowing that President Trump’s administration has deported Garcia back to his home country to protect American families,” Moore added.

For other RSC members, the Democrats’ misplaced priorities on immigration are part of a broader pattern.

“It’s the height of hypocrisy that Democrats flew to El Salvador to help a gang-affiliated Salvadoran national who was in our country illegally,” Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah) told the Reporter. “But when our border was wide open, unvetted criminals poured in, and illegal aliens committed horrific crimes against innocent Americans for four years, they stayed silent.”

“Today’s Democratic Party would rather fight to import criminals than protect the Americans they represent,” Owens added.

Rep. Brad Knott (R., N.C.) told the Reporter that “the Democratic Party continues to prioritize illegal immigrants and open borders over the safety and wellbeing of American citizens,” he said. “Uniformly protesting a confirmed criminal from El Salvador being returned to El Salvador after illegally entering the United States embodies this unfortunate reality.”

Knott also tied in another high-profile instance where many Democrats botched their response to another high-profile murder of an American citizen.

“I remember being at the president’s joint address when he paid tribute to the family of Laken Riley,” he said.

One Democrat, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D., Ct.) recently admitted that she now regrets voting for the bipartisan bill passed in Riley’s honor.

“Democrats refused to stand out of respect for her and her family, yet they are all cheering this senator traveling around 2,000 miles to advocate for an illegal MS-13 gang member,” Hayes said.