“Until U.S. Marine Jon Hammar is released, I am calling on all Americans to cancel their vacations to Mexico and not to book any travel there,” Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. said, calling Hammar’s treatment at the hands of Mexican officials an “absolute disgrace.”
Two Republican congressmen called Thursday for a national travel boycott of Mexico until the country releases imprisoned former Marine Jon Hammar, urging “all Americans” to campaign for the war veteran’s freedom by turning off the tap on America’s tourism dollars.
The statements from Reps. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. — both Marine combat veterans — came as dozens of lawmakers pressed the Obama administration to more aggressively petition for Hammar’s release. Hammar, who is locked up in a notorious Mexican prison on what his family says is a trumped-up weapons charge, is increasingly gaining the attention of Congress.
Amid conflicting signals about whether U.S. officials were making progress toward his release, Grimm and Hunter called for a national effort to bring Hammar home.
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