“A sizable group of Congress members should accompany him along with international human rights attorneys,” stated one state legislator. “This situation undoubtedly demands it.”
Despite assertions by two presidents that they are powerless to secure the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland sheet metal worker who was transferred to a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador against a judicial order preventing his deportation, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen revealed on Tuesday his plans to travel to the Latin American nation to secure his constituent’s safe return. Several other Democratic lawmakers have voiced their intention to support his efforts.
Senator Van Hollen (D-Md.) communicated his plans on Monday through a letter to the Salvadoran ambassador to the U.S., expressing his desire to meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele during his visit to Washington, D.C. this week. Van Hollen emphasized that if Abrego Garcia was not returned “by midweek,” he would personally travel to El Salvador.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Van Hollen mentioned he hadn’t received a response from Bukele concerning his request.
“I aim to meet with officials from the government of El Salvador,” he stated, noting the uncertainty of Bukele’s presence in the country during his visit. “I also plan to visit this infamous prison to see Abrego Garcia… The stance of both the Trump administration and the president of El Salvador is untenable.”
During a meeting in the White House Oval Office on Monday, which Van Hollen referenced, Bukele met with U.S. President Donald Trump and insisted he lacked the authority to release Abrego Garcia, while repeatedly labeling him a “terrorist” who could not be allowed back into the country.
Abrego Garcia arrived in the U.S. in 2011 and was accused in 2019 by a police informant of being a member of the MS-13 gang. He has consistently denied these accusations, has never been legally charged, and a judge ruled in 2019 that he should not be deported back to El Salvador due to a credible fear of persecution and torture.
As reported by The New Republic on Tuesday, the police officer who formally accused Abrego Garcia of gang involvement was later suspended for leaking confidential information about another case.
“All this casts further doubt on the integrity of the process used to label Abrego Garcia as a gang member, particularly as Trump and his allies have been recklessly using the MS-13 label,” wrote journalist Greg Sargent.
Abrego Garcia, married to a U.S. citizen and father to a five-year-old, had been residing and working in Maryland for nearly 15 years when he was apprehended last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, detained in Texas, then deported to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously last week that the Trump administration, which claimed Abrego Garcia’s deportation was due to an “administrative error,” must work to facilitate his return.
“This administration has been dishonest about Mr. Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen asserted on Monday. “The Vice President tweeted he had a criminal record. That was false. They’ve been caught in lies, they won’t admit it, and they must bring him home.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Tuesday that Abrego Garcia “is a foreign terrorist and an MS-13 gang member,” stating that should he return to the U.S., the administration would eventually deport him again to El Salvador.
On Monday, Representatives Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fl.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) indicated their plans to accompany Van Hollen to El Salvador. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) also confirmed his intentions to travel, as reported by Axios on Tuesday.
“We are facing a constitutional crisis,” declared Rep. Garcia. “The president is illegally sending individuals to foreign jails. He’s ignoring a unanimous Supreme Court decision. Congress can’t proceed as usual. We must travel to El Salvador and demand Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release.”
Georgia state Representative Ruwa Romman (D-97) applauded Van Hollen’s initiative, urging that “a substantial congressional delegation should join him, along with international human rights lawyers.”
The Trump administration noted in a daily status update on Abrego Garcia, mandated by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, that it was “ready to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s presence in the United States in line with those processes if he presents at a port of entry”—yet continued to assert it could not compel Bukele, who has a $6 million agreement with the White House to detain suspected gang members from the U.S., to release him.
Progressive commentator Hasan Piker praised Van Hollen’s planned trip as “absolutely the right move.”
“More Democrats should take actions like this,” he commented. “Other senators should join him as well.”
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