U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Wednesday that authorities in El Salvador blocked him from visiting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported from the United
States and now held in a high-security prison.
Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to El Salvador aiming to meet with senior officials and advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release. However, Vice President Felix Ulloa reportedly informed the senator that he could not approve a visit or even a phone call with Abrego Garcia.
According to Van Hollen, Ulloa also claimed that the United States is funding Abrego Garcia’s continued imprisonment — despite there being no evidence he committed a crime.
“Why should the U.S. government pay El Salvador to imprison a man who was illegally taken from our country and hasn’t committed any crime?” Van Hollen asked during a press briefing.
El Salvador’s government has not publicly responded to Van Hollen’s visit or the allegations.
Abrego Garcia was deported due to what U.S. officials have called an “administrative error.” In response, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to take steps to return him. The Supreme Court upheld that directive.
Despite this, President Nayib Bukele has refused to return Abrego Garcia. During a meeting earlier this week with former President Donald Trump, Bukele stated he had no intention of complying with the court order. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it lacks authority to forcibly bring Abrego Garcia back.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis expressed frustration, noting there was no evidence the Trump administration had made any real attempt to retrieve Abrego Garcia. Though she stopped short of holding the government in contempt, she warned against “gamesmanship or grandstanding.”
Abrego Garcia, now 29, fled El Salvador at age 16 to escape gang violence. He was granted legal protection to remain in the U.S. in 2019 and has no criminal record. His lawyers deny Justice Department claims linking him to the MS-13 gang.
Van Hollen emphasized in his remarks that neither U.S. nor Salvadoran officials have presented any proof supporting those allegations.
This case is part of a broader controversy. Under the Trump administration, hundreds of individuals—mostly Venezuelans—were deported to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act without trials or evidence. These detainees have reportedly had no contact with lawyers or the outside world since arriving.
In March, after a court ruled that those deported under the act should be returned to the U.S., Bukele posted photos on social media showing detainees being offloaded from planes in the middle of the night, writing simply, “Too late.”
A federal judge has since stated that Trump-era officials could face criminal contempt charges for violating court orders halting those deportations.
Back in Washington, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was scheduled to meet with El Salvador’s Minister of National Defense, Rene Merino, on Wednesday at the Pentagon. Photo by Senate Democrats, Wikimedia commons.