A Democratic senator said Wednesday that El Salvador had denied his request to release a US resident whose wrongful deportation triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.Chris Van Hollen said he had also been refused a visit or phone call with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned in his native country despite a US federal judge’s order, backed by the Supreme Court, for his return to the United States.The White House condemned Van Hollen’s trip to the Central American country and invited the mother of a woman killed by another migrant from El Salvador — but in an unrelated case — to speak as a “special guest” at a hastily arranged news briefing.Van Hollen said he had asked Vice President Felix Ulloa when they met why Abrego Garcia was still locked up in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) if he had committed no crime and El Salvador had no evidence that he was a member of street gang MS-13.”His answer was that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT,” Van Hollen, who represents Abrego Garcia’s home state of Maryland, told reporters during a visit to the Central American nation.The Trump administration has paid President Nayib Bukele’s administration several million dollars to keep deportees in detention.”I’m asking President Bukele… to do the right thing and allow Mr Abrego Garcia to walk out of prison, a man who’s charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, and who was illegally abducted from the United States,” Van Hollen said.A legal US resident, Abrego Garcia was protected by a 2019 court order determining that he could not be deported to El Salvador, but he was sent there around a month ago.The Trump administration has admitted an “administrative error” and has been ordered by the Supreme Court to “facilitate” the 29-year-old father’s return.But the White House — pressed on what action it was taking to remedy its error in lower court hearings — has not announced any efforts toward Abrego Garcia’s return.Bukele said during a White House visit on Monday he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. – ‘Protecting our children’ -The Trump administration has mounted an increasingly aggressive pushback, accusing Abrego Garcia of gang links and domestic violence without providing any conclusive evidence.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday brought out Patty Morin of Maryland — whose daughter Rachel was beaten, raped and strangled in an unrelated 2023 case in which the Salvadoran murderer had been deported three times — to speak at a briefing.”This is about protecting our children. It’s more than just politics or votes or just anything,” Morin told journalists. Leavitt slammed the “appalling and sad” visit by the Democratic senator and accused him and the media of prioritizing Abrego Garcia’s case over that of Rachel Morin’s.US Attorney General Pam Bondi meanwhile released what she called “additional information” including a police report that said his Chicago Bulls baseball cap indicated he was an MS-13 member.He denies gang membership and has never been charged with crimes in either country.But Trump’s critics have warned that his defiance of the courts has placed the country on the cusp of a constitutional crisis.”It’s a short road from there to tyranny,” Van Hollen said earlier.The issue has become a growing policial football.West Virginia Republican congressman Riley Moore posted on X Tuesday that he had also traveled to El Salvador to see the prison where immigrants deported by the Trump administration are being held.He declared himself supportive of Trump’s actions, however.Another Democratic senator, Cory Booker, and two Democratic members of the House of Representatives are also mulling a trip to the country.burs-dk/tgb
A Democratic senator said Wednesday that El Salvador had denied his request to release a US resident whose wrongful deportation triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.Chris Van Hollen said he had also been refused a visit or phone call with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned in his native country despite a US federal judge’s order, backed by the Supreme Court, for his return to the United States.The White House condemned Van Hollen’s trip to the Central American country and invited the mother of a woman killed by another migrant from El Salvador — but in an unrelated case — to speak as a “special guest” at a hastily arranged news briefing.Van Hollen said he had asked Vice President Felix Ulloa when they met why Abrego Garcia was still locked up in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) if he had committed no crime and El Salvador had no evidence that he was a member of street gang MS-13.”His answer was that the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador, to keep him at CECOT,” Van Hollen, who represents Abrego Garcia’s home state of Maryland, told reporters during a visit to the Central American nation.The Trump administration has paid President Nayib Bukele’s administration several million dollars to keep deportees in detention.”I’m asking President Bukele… to do the right thing and allow Mr Abrego Garcia to walk out of prison, a man who’s charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, and who was illegally abducted from the United States,” Van Hollen said.A legal US resident, Abrego Garcia was protected by a 2019 court order determining that he could not be deported to El Salvador, but he was sent there around a month ago.The Trump administration has admitted an “administrative error” and has been ordered by the Supreme Court to “facilitate” the 29-year-old father’s return.But the White House — pressed on what action it was taking to remedy its error in lower court hearings — has not announced any efforts toward Abrego Garcia’s return.Bukele said during a White House visit on Monday he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. – ‘Protecting our children’ -The Trump administration has mounted an increasingly aggressive pushback, accusing Abrego Garcia of gang links and domestic violence without providing any conclusive evidence.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday brought out Patty Morin of Maryland — whose daughter Rachel was beaten, raped and strangled in an unrelated 2023 case in which the Salvadoran murderer had been deported three times — to speak at a briefing.”This is about protecting our children. It’s more than just politics or votes or just anything,” Morin told journalists. Leavitt slammed the “appalling and sad” visit by the Democratic senator and accused him and the media of prioritizing Abrego Garcia’s case over that of Rachel Morin’s.US Attorney General Pam Bondi meanwhile released what she called “additional information” including a police report that said his Chicago Bulls baseball cap indicated he was an MS-13 member.He denies gang membership and has never been charged with crimes in either country.But Trump’s critics have warned that his defiance of the courts has placed the country on the cusp of a constitutional crisis.”It’s a short road from there to tyranny,” Van Hollen said earlier.The issue has become a growing policial football.West Virginia Republican congressman Riley Moore posted on X Tuesday that he had also traveled to El Salvador to see the prison where immigrants deported by the Trump administration are being held.He declared himself supportive of Trump’s actions, however.Another Democratic senator, Cory Booker, and two Democratic members of the House of Representatives are also mulling a trip to the country.burs-dk/tgb
