Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to El Salvador to intercede on behalf of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran citizen who was deported illegally by the Trump administration in March.
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Abrego García had a court order in his favor that prohibited his expulsion to El Salvador.
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Who did the senator meet with in El Salvador?
In San Salvador, Van Hollen met with the country’s vice president, Félix Ulloa, who denied him the possibility of seeing Abrego and stated that the government does not have the authority to return him to the United States.
“Why does the government of El Salvador keep a man in prison without any evidence of wrongdoing, and without receiving any evidence from the United States?” questioned the senator during a press conference. “They should simply release him,” he added.
Where is Abrego García?
According to Van Hollen, Abrego García is being held in the maximum security prison in El Salvador, known as CECOT, where the Trump administration has deported over 200 immigrants, many of them Venezuelans, in recent months.
At a meeting on Monday at the White House, officials from the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele stated that there are no reasons for the repatriation of Abrego García. However, the United States Supreme Court ordered the government to “facilitate” his return to the country.
Donald Trump and his administration claim, without providing evidence, that Abrego García has ties to the MS-13 gang, a situation that the detainee’s lawyers deny, in addition to the fact that the Salvadoran immigrant has never been formally accused of any gang-related criminal activities.
“We are facing an unjust situation,” Van Hollen declared. “The Trump administration is lying about Abrego Garcia. U.S. courts have examined the facts.”
At the end of his visit, Van Hollen reiterated his position: “Abrego García was illegally kidnapped from the United States and did not commit any crime. I will continue to press while I am here and also afterwards.”
Democrats say this is a “constitutional crisis”
The Senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, would also be considering a trip to El Salvador, as well as several Democratic members of the House of Representatives.
California Democrat Representative Robert Garcia told the Associated Press agency that the situation represents “a constitutional crisis.” Along with Congressman Maxwell Frost, they sent a letter to the Chairman of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, requesting an official congressional delegation to investigate directly in El Salvador.
“We need to be there, work with the family, pressure the Salvadoran government and the White House to do the right thing,” expressed Garcia, who stated that some lawmakers could travel independently if the mission is not authorized.
From the government, the reaction was not long in coming. The former ICE director and current Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, strongly criticized the Democratic senator’s trip in an interview with Fox News, stating that “we eliminated a dangerous person” and described the visit as inappropriate. "A Salvadoran citizen was returned to his country, so he is at home," he pointed out.