Maryland Sen. Van Hollen meets with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador amid court fight over US return

SAN SALVADOR AP Maryland Sen Chris Van Hollen met Thursday in El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garcia a man who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation Van Hollen posted a photo of the meeting on X saying he also called Abrego Garcia s wife to pass along his message of love The lawmaker did not provide an update on the status of Abrego Garcia whose attorneys are fighting to force the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U S El Salvador s President Nayib Bukele posted images of the meeting minutes before Van Hollen shared his post saying Kilmar Abrego Garcia miraculously risen from the death camps torture now sipping margaritas with Sen Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador The meeting came hours after Van Hollen reported he was denied entry into a high-security El Salvador prison Thursday while he was trying to check on Abrego Garcia s well-being and push for his release The Democratic senator commented at a news conference in San Salvador that his car was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about kilometers about miles from the Terrorism Confinement Center or CECOT even as they let other cars go on They stopped us because they are under orders not to allow us to proceed Van Hollen commented U S President Donald Trump and Bukele noted this week that they have no basis to send Abrego Garcia back even as the Trump administration has called his deportation a mistake and the U S Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return Trump functionaries have commented that Abrego Garcia a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland has ties to the MS- gang but his attorneys say the authorities has provided no evidence of that and Abrego Garcia has never been charged with any crime related to such activity Van Hollen s trip has become a partisan flashpoint in the U S as Democrats have seized on Abrego Garcia s deportation as what they say is a cruel consequence of Trump s disregard for the courts Republicans have criticized Democrats for defending him and argued that his deportation is part of a larger effort to reduce crime White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held a news conference Wednesday with the mother of a Maryland woman who was killed by a fugitive from El Salvador in The Maryland senator stated reporters Wednesday that he met with Salvadoran Vice President F lix Ulloa who revealed his governing body could not return Abrego Garcia to the United States So at present I tried again to make contact with Mr Abrego Garcia by driving to the CECOT prison Van Hollen stated Thursday Van Hollen stated Abrego Garcia has not had any contact with his family or his lawyers There has been no ability to find out anything about his healthcare and well-being Van Hollen disclosed He announced Abrego Garcia should be able to have contact with his lawyers under international law We won t give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected Van Hollen disclosed He reported there would be a large number of more lawmakers coming to El Salvador New Jersey Sen Cory Booker D-N J is also considering a trip to El Salvador as are a few House Democrats While Van Hollen was denied entry several House Republicans have visited the notorious gang prison in encouragement of the Trump administration s efforts Rep Riley Moore a West Virginia Republican posted Tuesday evening that he d visited the prison where Abrego Garcia is being held He did not mention Abrego Garcia but announced the facility houses the country s largest part brutal criminals I leave now even more determined to sponsorship President Trump s efforts to secure our homeland Moore wrote on social media Missouri Republican Rep Jason Smith chair of the House Solutions and Means Committee also visited the prison He posted on X that thanks to President Trump the facility now includes illegal immigrants who broke into our country and committed violent acts against Americans The fight over Abrego Garcia has also played out in contentious court filings with repeated refusals from the administration to tell a judge what it plans to do if anything to repatriate him Since March El Salvador has accepted from the U S more than Venezuelan immigrants whom Trump administration personnel 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 Bukele s broader effort to crack down on the country s powerful street gangs which has put people behind bars and made Bukele extremely popular at home Human rights groups have accused Bukele s authorities of subjecting those jailed to systematic use of torture and other mistreatment Officers there deny wrongdoing