2 weeks Ago
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration despite a court order, met with US senator Chris Van Hollen in El Salvador on Thursday, as a legal battle over his return to the United States continues. Mr Van Hollen posted a photo of the meeting on X, saying he also called Mr Abrego Garcia's wife "to pass along his message of love". The Democratic senator said Mr Abrego Garcia has not had any contact with his family or his lawyers.
"There has been no ability to find out anything about his health and well-being," Mr Van Hollen said. He said Mr Abrego Garcia should be able to have contact with his lawyers under international law. Their meeting came hours after the Mr Van Hollen said he was denied entry into a high-security El Salvador prison on Thursday while he was trying to check on Mr Abrego Garcia's well-being and push for his release.
Mr Van Hollen said at a news conference in San Salvador that his car was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about 3 kilometres from the Terrorism Confinement Center, even as they let other cars go on. "They stopped us because they are under orders not to allow us to proceed," Mr Van Hollen said. Mr Van Hollen did not provide an update on the status of Mr Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the US, saying he would have more details Friday.
US President Donald Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said this week that they have no basis to send Mr Abrego Garcia back, even as the Trump administration calls his deportation a mistake and the US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return. A judge who ruled that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador last month has slammed the Trump administration for doing "nothing" to facilitate his return. Trump officials have said that Mr Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, has ties to the MS-13 gang, but his attorneys say the government has provided no evidence of that and Mr Abrego Garcia has never been charged with any crime related to such activity.
Mr Van Hollen's trip has become a partisan flashpoint in the US as Democrats have seized on Mr Abrego Garcia's deportation as what they say is a cruel consequence of Trump's disregard for the courts. Republicans have criticised Democrats for defending him and argued that his deportation is part of a larger effort to reduce crime. Mr Van Hollen said there would be "many more" lawmakers coming to El Salvador.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is also considering a trip to El Salvador, as are some House Democrats. US Senator Chris Van Hollen said at a news conference in San Salvador that his car was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about 3 kilometres from the Terrorism Confinement Center. Several House Republicans have visited the notorious gang prison in support of the Trump administration's efforts.
Representative Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, posted Tuesday evening that he'd visited the prison where Mr Abrego Garcia is being held. "I leave now even more determined to support President Trump's efforts to secure our homeland," Mr Moore wrote on social media. Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the US more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom Trump administration officials have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country's maximum-security gang prison just outside San Salvador.
That prison is part of Mr Bukele's broader effort to crack down on the country's powerful street gangs, which has put 84,000 people behind bars and made Mr Bukele extremely popular at home. Human rights groups have accused Mr Bukele's government of subjecting those jailed to "systematic use of torture and other mistreatment." Officials there deny wrongdoing.
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