WASHINGTON

Four Senate Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to require the Trump administration to produce a human rights report on El Salvador.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Holle and Alex Padilla unveiled the bill to demand a report detailing any steps the administration is taking to ensure compliance with court orders applicable to US citizens or residents wrongfully deported by the US to El Salvador.

If the administration fails to produce the report, security assistance to El Salvador would be prohibited under federal law.

Van Hollen said the Trump administration is "clearly refusing to comply” with orders by federal courts to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a resident from the state of Maryland who was "illegally" deported.

"This legislation would require the Trump Administration to report on the actions they’ve taken in response to the court orders, the Government of El Salvador’s collusion with the Trump Administration to violate due process rights, and the broader human rights concerns in El Salvador," he said in a statement.

Abrego Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March and deported to El Salvador, where he was jailed without trial at the infamous CECOT prison under a US-backed agreement that detains some deportees.

His attorneys have maintained that he was wrongly linked to the violent MS-13 gang and was denied due process. The US has acknowledged his deportation was an "administrative error," but has refused to arrange for his return.

- Due process 'cornerstone' of American democracy

Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador earlier this month. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has refused to allow his return.

Kaine said Bukele "has rounded up tens of thousands of Salvadorans without due process and jammed them indefinitely into overpopulated torture centers."

"And now he’s trying to do the same to people living in the United States," he added.

Padilla stands with his colleagues to hold Bukele and Trump "accountable over the corrosion of civil liberties and due process" in El Salvador which is supported by the US.

Schumer said the "cornerstone" of American democracy is due process. "The Trump administration has taken a sledgehammer to the very basis of our legal system and the rights Americans have as citizens," he added.

The legislation is also privileged under the Foreign Assistance Act, meaning the Senate will be forced to vote on the measure.