Pritzker orders Illinois to boycott El Salvador over Abrego Garcia’s detention

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has ordered agencies in his state to boycott work with El Salvador amid the detention fight over Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia’s detention in a Salvadoran prison has become a major focus as Democrats look to criticize the Trump administration for skirting his constitutional right to due process.

“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 on Wednesday. “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.”

Pritzker said he was requesting that the Illinois State Board of Investment, the State Universities Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System review their investments to “identify any fund investments” that are wholly or partially managed, owned or controlled by the Salvadoran government or has ties to business in El Salvador.

The governor’s office also directed the state Department of Central Management Services to launch a review to identify contracts awarded to companies affiliated with El Salvador’s government or Salvadoran businesses.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has also been directed to conduct an analysis of trade between the state and El Salvador, including the “scale and nature of imports” and the extent to which Salvadoran goods are in the supply chain of products manufactured in the state.

Pritzker’s order comes just days after a group of House Democrats traveled to El Salvador and were denied a meeting with Abrego Garcia.

The Maryland man’s detention has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s deportations. The administration previously admitted to mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia but has since said it would not help bring him home.

The Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” his return to the U.S., but it has left wiggle room for the administration to say that the responsibility for Abrego Garcia’s release lies with El Salvador.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said he would not be returning Abrego Garcia.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also traveled to El Salvador and was able to successfully meet with his constituent. Van Hollen said he informed Abrego Garcia of the political and legal battle playing out in the U.S. over his deportation and criticized the Salvadoran government for fabricating better conditions for him.

Abrego Garcia’s deportation has been the latest in a string from the Trump administration. He was given deportation protection in 2019 because he was facing threats on his life in his home country of El Salvador. The administration has said he’s part of the MS-13 gang, but he and his family deny the accusation.