WASHINGTON — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, wrongly deported from the United States last month, told a visiting U.S. senator that he was moved from a notorious Salvadoran prison to a detention center with better conditions — a statement made during a meeting that the American lawmaker said was staged by the Central American country’s government to make it look like a retreat.
Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Friday that the Salvadoran man, who was living in Maryland, told him as they met Thursday that he had shared a cell with 25 prisoners and was fearful of many inmates at the mega-prison known as CECOT before he was moved to another center in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
The senator held an airport press conference after returning to the Washington area from El Salvador. He stood next to Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer, who wiped away tears as Van Hollen shared some of her husband’s comments about missing his family.
The senator, however, emphasized repeatedly to reporters that the case transcends the question of Abrego Garcia’s immigration status.
“It’s about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States,” Van Hollen said. “It’s very clear that the president, Trump administration are blatantly, flagrantly disagreeing with, defying the order from the Supreme Court.”
The case has become a focal point in the immigration debate. Democrats accuse President Donald Trump of overstepping his executive authority, and Republicans are criticizing Democrats for defending a man Trump and White House officials claim is an MS-13 gang member, despite the fact he has not been charged with any gang-related crimes.
More Democrats have said they will fly to El Salvador to push for Abrego Garcia’s release. Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele have dug in on keeping him out of the United States, even as administration officials have described his deportation as a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has called on the government to facilitate his return.
Bukele posted images of Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia on Thursday and said the prisoner “gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” Van Hollen said a Salvadoran government official placed other beverages on the table with salt or sugar on the rim, to make it look like they were drinking margaritas.
