Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia is 'traumatized' by his imprisonment at CECOT
The senator also tried to justify the drinks he appeared to have had with Kilmar Abrego, assuring that they were placed on the table as a courtesy, but that neither he nor the Salvadoran consumed them.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen
On Friday, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen reported that Kilmar Ábrego García, mistakenly deported to El Salvador, is "traumatized" by the time he has spent in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison known for its harsh conditions. Van Hollen said Abrego was transferred nine days ago to a prison in Santa Ana, where conditions are more bearable, following his visit to the Central American country this week.
During his meeting with Abrego, Van Hollen criticized the alleged psychological impact of Abrego Garcia's confinement. "He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways," the Democratic senator recounted upon his arrival in the United States at Dulles Airport.
A visit that generated reactions
Van Hollen's visit to El Salvador sought to promote Abrego's return. During his stay, the senator claimed that he was initially denied access twice to the penitentiary center where he was being held. He finally managed to meet with him at another facility.
The Trump administration reacted with criticism to the visit. Through social media, the president called Van Hollen "a fool" and the White House compared his meeting with Abrego to a meeting Trump held with a mother whose daughter was killed by an undocumented immigrant, stressing that they are not the same.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also spoke out, stating that Abrego remains in the country's custody and good health. In a post on social networks, Bukele even ironized that Abrego and Van Hollen shared "margaritas in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!"
The senator responded to the claim by assuring that drinks were not consumed. According to him, glasses with ice and what looked like salt or sugar on the rim simply appeared on the table, courtesy of a Salvadoran official. Van Hollen insisted that neither he nor Abrego touched them, although he admitted they "looked like margaritas." Still, he denied that there was anything festive about the scene and accused Bukele of trying to "deceive people about what’s going on."
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