US Senator Chris Van Hollen met yesterday with Kilmarn Abrego Garcia, a man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in a case that has pitted the defiant administration of US President Donald Trump against the courts and raised the prospect of a constitutional conflict, Reuters reports.
The senator posted a picture of himself in El Salvador with Abrego Garcia on the social network X, dressed in a shirt, jeans and a baseball cap, a day after he was denied access to the notorious prison for gang members where Garcia was being held.
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"I said that my main goal of this trip (to El Salvador) was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that opportunity," the senator wrote in his post, but without giving any indication of Abrego Garcia's health or mental state.
"I have called his wife Jennifer to convey his message of love," Van Hollen added. "I look forward to providing full information upon my return."
The US Supreme Court has ordered President Donald Trump's administration to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia after Washington admitted he was deported due to an administrative error.
In a statement accompanying the ruling, liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the government had provided no basis for what she called the "arrest without a warrant of Abrego Garcia," nor for his deportation or imprisonment in El Salvador.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia say he has never been charged with or convicted of any crime, and deny the Justice Department's accusations that he belongs to the MS-13 criminal gang.
But the government has given no indication that it plans to seek his return and has said it has no authority to release a man from a foreign prison, raising the possibility of a constitutional conflict if Trump defies the highest court.
In a statement after the meeting, White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai repeated the unproven accusation that Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13.
"Kris Van Hollen has firmly established the Democrats as a party whose top priority is the well-being of the illegal foreign terrorist MS-13," Desai said.
"This is truly disgusting. President Trump will continue to stand with law-abiding Americans," he said.
Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan told CNN that the man deserves to go to prison, despite the Supreme Court's directive.
"He is a citizen of El Salvador and is in El Salvador. He is at home," Homan said.
"I think we did the right thing, I think he's where he needs to be. Even if he comes back... he'll be detained and removed under a restraining order."
Along with Abrego Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, who it says are gang members to El Salvador, under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, without evidence or trial.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has already threatened Trump administration officials with criminal contempt charges over the deportations.
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Bosberg said the administration showed "willful disregard" for his March 15 order banning deportations to El Salvador under a 1798 law.
Salvadoran officials have also shown no interest in releasing Abrego Garcia.
During a meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday, El Salvadoran President Najib Bukele said he had no plans to return Abrego Garcia.
Bukele also posted pictures of the meeting with Van Hollen on social media, followed by a statement saying he would remain in the Central American country's custody.
"Now that it has been confirmed that he is healthy, he is honored to remain in El Salvador's custody," Bukele said.
Van Hollen, a U.S. senator from Maryland, the U.S. state where Abrego Garcia lived, arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday to meet with senior officials and advocate for his release, but Vice President Felix Ulloa told him he could not authorize a visit or phone call with Abrego Garcia.
It was not immediately clear what had changed to allow the senator access.
Abrego Garcia, 29, left El Salvador at age 16 to escape gang-related violence, his lawyers said, and obtained a protective order in 2019 to continue living in the United States.
Representatives for Abrego Garcia and Van Hollen did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on the meeting, according to Reuters.
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