El Salvador denies senator visit with erroneously deported man: Van Hollen
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on March 26. Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
The government of El Salvador denied a request from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) to see or speak to his Maryland constituent who was mistakenly deported there, the senator said during a visit to the country on Wednesday.
The big picture: Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is being held at a high-security prison for terrorists in El Salvador as the Trump administration evades courts' orders to facilitate his release, despite conceding that he was deported in an "administrative error."
- The U.S. government has accused Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national legally living in Maryland, of being a member of the MS-13 gang, though he has not been convicted of gang-related crimes.
Driving the news: Van Hollen told reporters he asked El Salvador Vice President Félix Ulloa during a meeting Wednesday why Abrego Garcia is being held if U.S. courts and the government of El Salvador have found no evidence that he's a member of the MS-13 gang.
- "His answer was that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador to keep him at CECOT," the senator said, referring to the prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo.
- The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
What he's saying: Van Hollen said he asked to see Abrego Garcia or to speak to him on the phone to check on his condition.
- The vice president told Van Hollen he needs to make earlier provisions to visit CECOT, the senator said. Asked if he could visit Abrego Garcia if he returns next week, the vice president said he can't make that promise, per Van Hollen.
- The Maryland senator asked to speak to Abrego Garcia on the phone, and Ulloa said he cannot arrange that but can try to do so if the American embassy asks. Van Hollen said he will ask the embassy to do so.
Zoom out: AFL-CIO, one of the most powerful labor groups in the country, joined in on the calls for Abrego Garcia's return on Wednesday.
- The group said Abrego Garcia is an apprentice with SMART Union Local 100.
- "The labor movement in general sees one of their fellow brothers in a notoriously heinous situation in that prison, and it has people upset, scared," union president, Michael Coleman, said on CNN.
The latest: The same day the Justice Department released records from the Prince George's County Police Department in Maryland showing Abrego Garcia was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
- According to the document, a confidential informant "who has provided truthful accurate information in the past" accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of MS-13.
- The documents do not show that Abrego Garcia was ever charged with gang-related crimes.
Catch up quick: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said during a meeting with President Trump on Monday that he can't return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., nor will he release him within El Salvador.
- The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must take steps to "facilitate" his release from custody in El Salvador.
- But the administration has argued that simply means if El Salvador asks to send him back, the U.S. has to help.
- The Department of Justice said Tuesday that even if Abrego Garcia manages to return to the U.S., he will be detained and removed from the country.
Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with additional information.
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