Sen. Van Hollen Visits Salvadoran Deportee Despite Government Blocks
TL/DR –
Senator Chris Van Hollen claimed El Salvador attempted to prevent him from visiting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an individual mistakenly deported by the Trump administration as part of the US government’s policy on illegal immigration. However, Van Hollen was ultimately permitted to meet with Garcia, who was granted withholding of removal but is currently in a detention facility in El Salvador following his release from CECOT prison. The US administration is engaged in a legal battle to bring Garcia back to the US, despite the White House insisting he will not be returned and claiming, without evidence, that he is a member of MS-13.
Sen. Hollen Fights to Meet Deported Salvadoran National Amid Controversy
Washington — Sen. Chris Van Hollen revealed that El Salvador initially resisted his attempts to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident mistakenly deported to El Salvador, before eventually permitting the meeting.
Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, appeared on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” to discuss the controversial case and his visit to El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old deported Salvadoran national, has become a figurehead in the ongoing conflict between the federal judiciary and the Trump administration’s harsh stance on illegal immigration.
Despite initial resistance, Van Hollen did meet Abrego Garcia in El Salvador and held press conferences to emphasize the government’s “violations of international law”.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele was the first to announce the meeting on social media, featuring photos of the senator and Abrego Garcia seemingly enjoying drinks together – an image Van Hollen contests as staged deception.
Coming to the US unlawfully in 2011, Abrego Garcia was granted withholding of removal after his 2019 arrest – a legal status that forbids deportation to his home country.
Despite an “administrative error” leading to Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador, both the White House and President Bukele show no intention to return him to the US. A fierce legal battle continues around efforts to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S., as ordered earlier this month by the courts, despite claims of his affiliation with gang MS-13. Van Hollen continues to insist on evidence-based court proceedings.
Although his primary purpose in traveling to El Salvador was to ascertain Abrego Garcia’s wellbeing rather than to litigate, Van Hollen emphasized that this case shapes the narrative around American constitutional rights and the treatment of immigrants.
Written by Kaia Hubbard, a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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