Photo from U.S. Embassy
While nearly 300 people — constituents of Congresswoman Claudia Tenney — attended a town hall this week that featured the New York District 24 representative's cardboard cutout, she was apparently out of the country.
Tenney took part in a Congressional delegation of Republicans to visit the CECOT prison in El Salvador, she said in an online social media post. Congressman Jason Smith led the group to the prison, known as “hell on Earth” for its brutal conditions, according to Axios.
In the article, none of those visiting representatives asked or posted about the condition of any of the men sent from the United States. They did pose for photos, including Tenney, at the prison and posted others of clusters of half-naked inmates standing stone-faced for the camera.
About one day after this group of politicians visited the prison, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen — on a mission to check on the condition of Abrego Garcia, admittedly sent to El Salvador by White House administrative error — was denied entry.
On Thursday, Van Hollen reported that he was able to meet with Garcia. He promised a full report once he returned to the states.
The Batavian has sent Tenney questions regarding her trip, including what she accomplished by going; if she checked on the condition of Garcia and any others sent from the United States; how much the trip cost and who paid for it; if she had any message for the constituents she missed at this week’s town hall; and her response to the many negative reactions to her online post about going to El Salvador.
On her social media post she said, “I visited the CECOT prison in El Salvador, where the worst of these violent gang members are being held,” though it has been reported that some 90% (analysis by Bloomberg News, Los Angeles Times and human rights organizations) of those sent from the U.S. had no criminal records beyond minor traffic or immigration violations, including Garcia. A CBS News 60 Minutes investigation found that 75% of them had no apparent criminal record at all.
During the town hall at Arc Community Center in Batavia this Tuesday, an attendee spoke up for Garcia and received a round of applause from the audience. The Supreme Court has unanimously ordered the Trump Administration to "facilitate the return" of Garcia back to the United States after it admitted to sending him to El Salvador in error. No action has been taken to do so.
