Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered the state to review any investments and business with El Salvador, a move that could lead to a boycott over the Central American nation’s assistance with the Trump administration in the deportation of criminal illegal migrants.
In a statement, the Democratic governor said the move was in response to the administration’s defiance of court orders and the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member with connections to human trafficking, who is being detained in El Salvador.
“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,” Pritzker said in a statement. “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.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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Pritzker said he was requesting the Illinois State Board of Investment, the State Universities Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System to “identify any fund investments” that are wholly or partially managed, owned or controlled by the Salvadoran government or have ties to businesses in El Salvador.
He also directed the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) to identify any state contracts awarded to companies with ties to the Latin American country.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Trade and Investment has also been ordered to analyze trade between Illinois and El Salvador, including the scale and nature of imports and the extent to which goods produced in El Salvador are in the supply chain of products manufactured in Illinois.
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Pritzker’s order came as at least five Democrats have traveled to El Salvador with the intention of meeting with Abrego Garcia. Four of them were denied a meeting by the Salvadoran government.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., met with him amid the legal battle over his return.
The Trump administration previously admitted to mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged ties to MS-13 who was living in Maryland, but has since said it would not help bring him home.
The Supreme Court has ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. However, it said El Salvador is responsible for his return.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said he will not return him. Democrats contend Abrego Garcia was deprived of due process, which the Trump administration denies.
The Justice Department unveiled documents last week detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. She alleged that her husband beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her.
Additionally, a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report obtained by Fox News claims that Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor and human trafficking. The report said a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled Abrego Garcia over in 2022 after swerving. The patrol officer found eight other individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who had just begun driving three days prior.
Department of Homeland Security sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the SUV Abrego Garcia was driving belonged to a confessed human smuggler.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace, Peter Pinedo and Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
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