2 months ago
9
SAN SALVADOR (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met Thursday successful El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a antheral who was sent determination by the Trump medication successful March contempt an migration tribunal bid preventing his deportation.
Van Hollen posted a photograph of the gathering connected X, saying helium besides called Abrego Garcia's woman “to walk on his connection of love.” The lawmaker did not supply an update connected the presumption of Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys are warring to unit the Trump medication to facilitate his instrumentality to the U.S.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.
SAN SALVADOR (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says helium was denied introduction into an El Salvador situation Thursday portion helium was trying to cheque connected the well-being of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a antheral who was sent determination by the Trump medication successful March contempt an migration tribunal bid preventing his deportation.
Van Hollen is successful El Salvador to propulsion for Abrego Garcia's release. The Democratic legislator said astatine a quality league successful San Salvador that his car was stopped by soldiers astatine a checkpoint astir 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) from the Terrorism Confinement Center, oregon CECOT, adjacent arsenic they fto different cars spell on.
“They stopped america due to the fact that they are nether orders not to let america to proceed," Van Hollen said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said this week that they person nary ground to nonstop Abrego Garcia back, adjacent arsenic the Trump medication has called his deportation a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has called connected the medication to facilitate his return. Trump officials person said that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was surviving successful Maryland, has ties to the MS-13 gang, but his attorneys accidental the authorities has provided nary grounds of that and Abrego Garcia has ne'er been charged with immoderate transgression related to specified activity.
Van Hollen’s travel has go a partisan flashpoint successful the U.S. arsenic Democrats person seized connected Abrego Garcia's deportation arsenic what they accidental is simply a cruel effect of Trump's disregard for the courts. Republicans person criticized Democrats for defending him and argued that his deportation is portion of a larger effort to trim crime. White House property caput Karoline Leavitt held a quality league Wednesday with the parent of a Maryland pistillate who was killed by a fugitive from El Salvador successful 2023.
The Maryland legislator told reporters Wednesday that helium met with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa, who said his authorities could not instrumentality Abrego Garcia to the United States.
“So today, I tried again to marque interaction with Mr. Abrego Garcia by driving to the CECOT prison,” Van Hollen said Thursday.
Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia has not had immoderate interaction with his household oregon his lawyers. “There has been nary quality to find retired thing astir his wellness and well-being," Van Hollen said. He said Abrego Garcia should beryllium capable to person interaction with his lawyers nether planetary law.
“We won’t springiness up until Kilmar has his owed process rights respected,” Van Hollen said. He said determination would beryllium “many more” lawmakers coming to El Salvador.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is besides considering a travel to El Salvador, arsenic are immoderate House Democrats.
While Van Hollen was denied entry, respective House Republicans person visited the notorious pack situation successful enactment of the Trump administration's efforts. Rep. Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, posted Tuesday evening that he’d visited the situation wherever Abrego Garcia is being held. He did not notation Abrego Garcia but said the installation “houses the country’s astir brutal criminals.”
“I permission present adjacent much determined to enactment President Trump’s efforts to unafraid our homeland,” Moore wrote connected societal media.
Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith, seat of the House Ways and Means Committee, besides visited the prison. He posted connected X that “thanks to President Trump" the installation “now includes amerciable immigrants who broke into our state and committed convulsive acts against Americans.”
The combat implicit Abrego Garcia has besides played retired successful contentious tribunal filings, with repeated refusals from the authorities to archer a justice what it plans to do, if anything, to repatriate him.
Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. much than 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom Trump medication officials person accused of pack enactment and convulsive crimes — and placed them wrong the country’s maximum-security pack situation conscionable extracurricular San Salvador. That situation is portion of Bukele’s broader effort to ace down connected the country’s almighty thoroughfare gangs, which has enactment 84,000 radical down bars and made Bukele highly fashionable astatine home.
Human rights groups person accused Bukele's authorities of subjecting those jailed to “systematic usage of torture and different mistreatment." Officials determination contradict wrongdoing.
___
Jalonick reported from Washington.
