What began as a tone-deaf mission by Democrats to advocate for the return of a deported illegal immigrant gang member has now turned into national mockery—with House Republicans branding the group with a devastating new nickname: the “Margarita Squad.”

The moniker comes in the wake of a disastrous visit by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and four House Democrats—Reps. Robert Garcia (CA), Maxwell Frost (FL), Yassamin Ansari (AZ), and Maxine Dexter (OR)—to El Salvador, where they attempted to negotiate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member was deported by the Trump administration and is now being held in El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison.

The mission backfired badly.

Van Hollen, whose trip was supposedly about human rights, was photographed near margaritas while cozying up to a suspected gang affiliate—a move that drew ridicule across the political spectrum. And when the four House Democrats landed on Monday, Salvadoran authorities refused to even meet with them, rejecting their request outright because they weren’t there in an official capacity.

Republicans quickly capitalized on the debacle.

“The Margarita Squad” nickname began circulating in GOP circles Tuesday, a nod to the humiliating optics of Democrats sipping drinks while pleading for the return of a man with MS-13 tattoos and a history of violence.

“This isn’t a human rights trip. It’s a clown show,” one senior House Republican aide told reporters. “They’re shedding tears over a criminal, while ignoring American victims like Rachel Morin.”

Rachel Morin, a mother of five from Maryland, was brutally raped and murdered in 2023 by another illegal alien from El Salvador—Victor Martinez-Hernandez—who had crossed the border during the Biden-Harris years. Her mother, Patty Morin, has blasted Sen. Van Hollen and the Democrat Party for ignoring her family while prioritizing gang-affiliated migrants.

“[Van Hollen] did not call our family. He did not give condolences,” Patty Morin said in a recent interview. “There was no action on the Democratic Party in any way… None of the senators did anything to help search for the murderer of my daughter.”

Now, Democrats are facing backlash not just for their misplaced sympathies but for revealing a fundamental disconnect with American voters—particularly on law and order. While they fight to bring back Abrego Garcia, who has been linked to drugs, cash, and domestic abuse, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has already said plainly: he’s not going anywhere.

“He’s not coming back to the United States,” Bukele said through a spokesperson.

The Biden-aligned Democrats, however, seem unable—or unwilling—to accept that reality. Despite being turned away and embarrassed on the international stage, Rep. Garcia and his colleagues took to CNN after returning to promise they’d continue the fight to bring Garcia back.

The optics couldn’t be worse: Democrats defending a tattooed gang member accused of beating his wife, while the families of his victims get silence and indifference.

As RedState’s Sister Toldjah put it bluntly: “It just boggles the mind that they continue to believe this is a winning issue despite the horrible optics.”

Democrats are now facing a reckoning, with the 2026 midterms looming and their public image sliding further into absurdity. As more Americans learn about who these lawmakers are actually fighting for, Republicans are eager to let them keep talking.

Because nothing says “out of touch” like flying across the world to sip margaritas with a gang suspect while American families are left grieving—and ignored.