Van Hollen blocked from visiting mistakenly deported man in El Salvador

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he and a lawyer for the family of Kilmar Abrego Garcia were stopped at a security checkpoint in El Salvador on Thursday when they tried to visit the mistakenly deported man at CECOT prison.

Van Hollen told reporters at a press conference in the Central American nation that he and the lawyer tried to make contact with Abrego Garcia at the notorious prison in order to check in on his health and well-being, but were denied getting near the property by Salvadoran soldiers.  

“I tried again to make contact with Mr. Abrego Garcia by driving to the CECOT prison. … Our goal was very simple today, which was to check on the health and well-being of Kilmar. But we were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about 3 kilometers from CECOT prison,” Van Hollen said. “We were told by the soldiers that they’d been ordered not to allow us to proceed any further than that point.” 

The Maryland Democrat added that Abrego Garcia, whose family lives in the Old Line State, has had no communication with anyone outside of the prison, as his lawyers, wife and mother have all been unsuccessful at making contact with him.

“There’s been no ability to find out anything about his health or well-being,” Van Hollen continued. “The U.S. Embassy has not been asked by the Trump administration to inquire about his health and well-being.”

The comments come a day after Van Hollen met with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa, who told him the government had no information connecting Abrego Garcia to MS-13 and was unable to allow him to visit Abrego Garcia at the prison.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said earlier in the week that he will not allow Abrego Garcia to be released — a comment the Trump administration is leaning on after the Supreme Court ordered officials to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. after he was wrongfully removed from the country. 

Trump administration lawyers have admitted they erred by swiftly deporting him in light of a 2019 court order blocking his removal from the U.S. 

Ulloa told Van Hollen that he would need more time to arrange a visit to CECOT and that a phone or video call with the senator or with his family could not happen in the near-term. He added that any such request would have to come from the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, Van Hollen said.

According to the senator, the embassy did communicate his request to the El Salvador government to see Abrego Garcia.