A US senator has met with a man who admitted to being mistakenly deported from Maryland to a mega prison in El Salvador by Trump administration officials.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen posted photos of his meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the administration has refused to allow to return to the US despite a federal judge’s order.
After the meeting, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele also refused to release Mr. Abrego Garcia and said he would remain in custody in the country.
The White House has accused Mr. Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 transnational Salvadoran gang, a designated foreign terrorist organization, a charge his lawyer denies.
This comes amid an escalating standoff between the president and the judiciary over immigration. It comes a day after a judge in another case said the administration could be held in contempt of court over deportation flights.
“I said my main goal on this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I got that opportunity,” the Democratic senator posted on social media.
“I called his wife, Jennifer, to convey his love. I look forward to providing a full update when I return.”
The senator said he was stopped by armed guards that day while on his way to the maximum-security prison in Cicotte, where Mr. Abrego Garcia is being held. Van Hollen has been in the country for several days, working to secure the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia, a resident of his state.
El Salvador’s president reposted photos of the senator meeting with Mr. Abrego Garcia on X, appearing to mock concerns about the prisoner’s well-being.
President Bukele, speaking, said Mr. Abrego Garcia had miraculously emerged from the ‘death camps’ and ‘torture’ in the “tropical paradise of El Salvador.”
“Now that he has been confirmed healthy, he will have the honor of remaining in El Salvador’s custody,” the president added.
Mr. Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland before being deported to El Salvador’s Anti-Terrorism Detention Center (SICOT) on March 15 along with a large number of Salvadorans and Venezuelans.
Maryland Judge Paula Shinis ruled that removing Mr. Abrego Garcia from the country violated a 2019 court order that gave him legal protection from deportation.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court partially upheld the lower court’s ruling, finding that the Trump administration should “facilitate” Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release.
Trump administration officials have acknowledged that the deportation was an “administrative error,” but the White House insists there was no wrongdoing.
The Republican president’s allies have argued that the deportation fulfills his campaign promise to keep Americans safe.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said in a briefing on Wednesday: “He [Mr. Abrego Garcia] will never live in the United States of America.”
She was joined by Rachel Morin, the mother of a Maryland woman who was murdered in August 2023 by a man who allegedly fled El Salvador.
