Congressional Democrats are growing concerned that their hopes of bringing home a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to a high-security prison in El Salvador may be slipping away, even as they struggle with how to push for his return.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele declared during his Monday visit to the U.S. that the country would not release Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.

This has left the minority party fretting about where to go from here, according to multiple Democratic sources.

One Senate Democratic aide told The Hill that a number of Senate Democrats have been texting back and forth about a possible forceful response against President Trump’s handling of the situation, but worry that swinging too hard could play into the administration’s hands.

“That's a concern. Most people are pretty devastated,” the aide said. “No one has been able to give us an answer of ‘what happens now.’ You're not going to send troops to get him or anything.”

The aide also added that there’s a “realism” setting in among some that Abrego Garcia probably won’t be coming home anytime soon.

The chances of Abrego Garcia being returned to the U.S. hit an apex on Friday when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” his return. That came on the heels of administration lawyers admitting they made a mistake in sending him to El Salvador.

But since then, it’s been all downhill.

The White House has made clear that they believe the ball is squarely in El Salvador’s court and has leaned on what they believe is a loose interpretation of the Supreme Court’s order to “facilitate” his return.

“Deporting him back to El Salvador was always going to be the end result. There is never going to be a world in which this is an individual who is going to live a peaceful life in Maryland,” White House press........

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