Maryland Sen. Van Hollen Meets With Abrego Garcia In El Salvador Amid Court Fight Over U.S. Return | EUROtoday

SAN SALVADOR (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met Thursday in El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a person who was despatched there by the Trump administration in March regardless of an immigration court docket order stopping his deportation.

Van Hollen posted a photograph of the assembly on X, saying he additionally known as Abrego Garcia’s spouse “to pass along his message of love.” The lawmaker didn’t present an replace on the standing of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are combating to pressure the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S., saying he would have extra particulars Friday.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted photos of the assembly minutes earlier than Van Hollen shared his publish, saying, “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” The tweet ended with emojis of the U.S. and El Salvador flags, with a handshake emoji between them.

A spokeswoman for El Salvador’s presidency mentioned she had no additional info.

The assembly got here hours after Van Hollen mentioned he was denied entry into an high-security El Salvador jail Thursday whereas he was attempting to examine on Abrego Garcia’s well-being and push for his launch.

The Democratic senator mentioned at a information convention in San Salvador that his automobile was stopped by troopers at a checkpoint about 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) from the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, whilst they let different vehicles go on.

“They stopped us because they are under orders not to allow us to proceed,” Van Hollen mentioned.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Bukele mentioned this week that they don’t have any foundation to ship Abrego Garcia again, even because the Trump administration has known as his deportation a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has known as on the administration to facilitate his return. Trump officers have mentioned that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was dwelling in Maryland, has ties to the MS-13 gang, however his attorneys say the federal government has supplied no proof of that and Abrego Garcia has by no means been charged with any crime associated to such exercise.

Van Hollen’s journey has develop into a partisan flashpoint within the U.S. as Democrats have seized on Abrego Garcia’s deportation as what they are saying is a merciless consequence of Trump’s disregard for the courts. Republicans have criticized Democrats for defending him and argued that his deportation is a component of a bigger effort to scale back crime. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a information convention Wednesday with the mom of a Maryland girl who was killed by a fugitive from El Salvador in 2023.

The Maryland senator informed reporters Wednesday that he met with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa, who mentioned his authorities couldn’t return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

“So today, I tried again to make contact with Mr. Abrego Garcia by driving to the CECOT prison,” Van Hollen mentioned Thursday.

Van Hollen mentioned Abrego Garcia has not had any contact together with his household or his legal professionals. “There has been no ability to find out anything about his health and well-being,” Van Hollen mentioned. He mentioned Abrego Garcia ought to be capable to have contact together with his legal professionals below worldwide regulation.

“We won’t give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected,” Van Hollen mentioned. He mentioned there can be “many more” lawmakers coming to El Salvador.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., can be contemplating a visit to El Salvador, as are some House Democrats.

While Van Hollen was denied entry, a number of House Republicans have visited the infamous gang jail in assist of the Trump administration’s efforts. Rep. Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, posted Tuesday night that he’d visited the jail the place Abrego Garcia is being held. He didn’t point out Abrego Garcia however mentioned the power “houses the country’s most brutal criminals.”

“I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore wrote on social media.

Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, additionally visited the jail. He posted on X that “thanks to President Trump” the power “now includes illegal immigrants who broke into our country and committed violent acts against Americans.”

The struggle over Abrego Garcia has additionally performed out in contentious court docket filings, with repeated refusals from the federal government to inform a choose what it plans to do, if something, to repatriate him.

Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. greater than 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom Trump administration officers have accused of gang exercise and violent crimes — and positioned them contained in the nation’s maximum-security gang jail simply outdoors San Salvador. That jail is a part of Bukele’s broader effort to crack down on the nation’s highly effective avenue gangs, which has put 84,000 folks behind bars and made Bukele extraordinarily standard at residence.

Human rights teams have accused Bukele’s authorities of subjecting these jailed to “systematic use of torture and other mistreatment.” Officials there deny wrongdoing.

Jalonick reported from Washington.