Democrat Senator Van Hollen denounces obstacles to contacting mistakenly detained deportee in El Salvador

Maryland Democratic state senator Chris Van Hollen denounced Wednesday that the government of El Salvador denied him access to see or speak with Kilmar Armando Abrego García, a legal resident of his state who was mistakenly deported from the United States and is currently being held in a maximum security prison in the Central American country.

During his visit, Van Hollen said he tried to meet Abrego Garcia or at least communicate with him by phone, but his request was rejected by Salvadoran authorities.

Detained for gang ties

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen with legal residence in Maryland, was deported despite the existence of a protective order in the country. U.S. authorities later acknowledged that it was a clerical "error."

Although the Department of Homeland Security accused him of having links to the MS-13 gang, so far he has not been convicted of any gang-related crime, neither in the United States nor in El Salvador. Even so, he remains incarcerated in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison designed to house suspected terrorists and members of criminal organizations.

Allegations of U.S. pressure

Van Hollen recounted that, in his meeting with Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa, he asked why Abrego Garcia is still being held if there is no conclusive evidence against him. The answer, according to the senator, was that the Trump Administration agreed to pay the government of Nayib Bukele to keep him detained in CECOT.

The vice president told him that, in order to visit the prison, prior arrangements must be made and that he could not assure him access on an upcoming visit. Furthermore, when Van Hollen asked for at least one phone call with Abrego García, Ulloa responded that it could only be considered if the U.S. embassy in San Salvador requested it. The senator affirmed that he will make such a request.

Diplomatic and legal obstacles

President Bukele has made it clear that he does not plan to return Abrego Garcia to the United States nor release him within El Salvador. This is despite the fact that the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his release. The Justice Department, for its part, maintains that this order does not obligate it to bring him back, but only to cooperate if El Salvador decides to send him.

Even if Abrego García manages to return to the United States, U.S. authorities have indicated that he would be immediately detained and deported again.