Senators To Visit El Salvador While Trump Defies Courts

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), one of the lawmakers who has been the most outspoken about President Donald Trump defying court orders to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador, has a stark warning for everyone living in the U.S.

“If we allow the Trump administration to disregard court orders and tear up the rights to due process, then the freedom of every American is in jeopardy,” Van Hollen told HuffPost in an interview Tuesday.

Van Hollen said he plans to visit El Salvador this week and hopes to finally put eyes on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the 29-year-old sheet metal worker and father of three currently detained at CECOT, a prison with a reputation of horrific human rights abuses. He said he has been in touch with U.S. embassy officials in El Salvador to plan the logistics of his trip.

“I think it’s important to go try to see him and see what his conditions are and try to meet with government officials there to discuss his release,” Van Hollen said.

CECOT is a high-security facility and visits are not permitted. People held there are also not allowed outdoors, according to The Associated Press.

Van Hollen tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, when he was in Washington, D.C., on Monday to meet with Trump. In his meeting with Trump, Bukele said he would not assist in returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S. and claimed he did not have the authority to “smuggle” him into the country.

Other lawmakers in Congress are trying to work out a trip to El Salvador. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) have requested the trip be arranged as a congressional delegation, known as CODEL, Axios reported. Rep. James Comer, (R.-Ky.), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, would need to approve the request. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is also reportedly looking to visit El Salvador, but it is unclear when that would occur.

A legal fight has erupted between Abrego Garcia and the Trump administration. The Supreme Court issued marching orders to the administration last week, directing the Justice Department to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return.

But the administration says it isn’t able to do so because it cannot infringe on the independence or sovereignty of El Salvador. However, in a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for Abrego Garcia noted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s own policy states that the agency must facilitate the return of anyone mistakenly removed to another country.

Prosecutors for the Justice Department and attorneys for Abrego Garcia will meet again on Friday in Maryland before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.

“He could easily bring Abrego Garcia back,” Van Hollen said of Trump.

As a legislator, Van Hollen knows his ability to bring back Abrego Garcia is limited.

The “first line of defense are the courts,” he said, noting that judges have the power to enforce sanctions on any official who defies court orders.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have already suggested that a contempt of court sanction may be necessary to force the administration’s hand and make officials follow the Supreme Court’s guidance.

“It’s up to the judge to consider that action and I hope she will carefully consider doing that,” Van Hollen said. “And it will be important that the Supreme Court back her up again if necessary.”

Abrego Garcia was born in El Salvador. His father was a police officer, and their family was threatened and targeted by gangs, court records show. He fled to the U.S. when he was 16 years old, and Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say he has since raised a family, held down a job and has not been convicted of a crime.

Abrego Garica got his first real shot at stability in 2019, when an immigration judge issued a protective order over him declaring that he could not be returned to El Salvador out of fear of persecution by local gangs.

That 2019 court order did not stop the Trump administration from deporting Abrego Garcia. The administration has instead claimed Abrego Garcia is associated with the New York chapter of MS-13, a violent gang. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say that accusation is unfounded; the man never lived in New York, they say, and the Justice Department’s reliance on a confidential informant who claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 is also wrong. They say he was misidentified.

Van Hollen said the U.S. has long provided El Salvador with “important support,” and that may soon need to change if Abrego Garcia is not released. El Salvador receives funding from the U.S. for each person it deports per year, according to NPR. The total comes to about $6 million for the latest group of people hauled out of the United States by the Trump administration.

“Certainly, I’m not going to support any payment so long as an innocent man who has been illegally deported from the country is in this notorious prison,” Van Hollen said. “So, Congress does have levers. They don’t provide immediate relief but I think the current situation is unsustainable, both for the Trump administration and El Salvador.”

“Trump and Bukele can only hide from these orders for so long,” he added.