BBC News, Los Angeles
Supplied by Sen Chris Van HollenAn American senator met a man whom the Trump administration officials admitted to having been expelled from Maryland to a mega-prison in Salvador.
Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen published photos of his meeting with Kilmar Ábrego García, which the administration refused to return to the United States despite an order from a federal judge.
After the meeting, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, also refused to release Mr. Ábrego García and said that he would remain in the care of the country.
The White House accused Mr. Ábrego García of being a member of the Salvadoran Transnational MS-13 gang, a designated foreign terrorist organization, which his lawyer denies.
Thursday’s meeting came in the midst of an increasing force test between the American president and the courts on immigration, one day after a judge in another case said that the administration could be held by the court for expulsion flights.
“I said that my main objective of this trip was to meet Kilmar. Tonight, I was lucky,” published the Democratic Senator on social networks.
“I called his wife, Jennifer, to transmit her love message. I can’t wait to provide a full update on my return.”
The White House called the “disgusting” visit.
“Chris Van Hollen has firmly established democrats like the party whose absolute priority is the well-being of an illegal MS-13 foreign terrorist,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
“It’s really disgusting. President Trump will continue to stand on the side of the American respectful Americans.”
The lawyers of Mr. ábrego García denied that he has an affiliation of gang and that he has never been accused, nor found guilty of crime.
Before the meeting, the senator said that he had been arrested by armed guards en route to Cecot, the maximum security prison where Mr. Ábrego García was held.
Van Hollen arrived in the country on Wednesday in the hope of obtaining the release of Mr. Ábrego García, who lived in Maryland.
The senator did not offer an update on the status of Mr. Ábrego García in his publications on social networks, but said that more information would be published on his return to the United States.
The wife of Mr. ábrego García celebrated the news and said that “her prayers had been answered”.
“The efforts of my family and my community in the fight against justice are heard, because I now know that my husband is alive,” said Jennifer Vasquez Sura. “God listens and the community is strong.”
She said her family still had many questions and would continue to fight for her release.
During his trip, Van Hollen said he had also met the Vice-president of the country And asked them to open the doors so that Mr. Ábrego García could leave the prison, a request which, according to him, was rejected.
On X, the president of El Salvador republished the photos of the senator’s meeting, Mr. Ábrego García and seemed to make fun of speculation on the social networks that the detainee had died in detention.
President Bukele said Mr. ábrego García had “miraculously raised” death camps “and” torture “in the” Tropical paradise of El Salvador “.
“Now that he has been confirmed in good health, he obtained the honor of staying in the custody of El Salvador,” added the president.
Mr. ábrego García lived in Maryland, before being expelled on March 15 with dozens of salvadoran and venezuelans at the Center for the Confainment of Terrorism (CECOC) in El Salvador.
Maryland judge Paula Xinis judged that the dismissal of Mr. ábrego García of the country had violated an order of the 2019 court which had granted him legal protection against expulsion.
The United States Supreme Court last week has partially confirmed the decision of the lower court, concluding that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the release of Mr. ábrego García.
The administration has been ordered to give daily updates to these efforts.
Trump administration officials conceded that expulsion was an “administrative error”, although the White House insists that there was no error.
The allies of the Republican president argued that the expulsion makes the promise of his campaign to ensure the safety of the Americans.
They quoted a ban on the prohibition deposited by the wife of Mr. Ábrego García on May 5, 2021, in which she alleged four cases of domestic violence against her.
Ms. Vasquez Sura told Newsweek on Wednesday that she and her husband had worked through their difficulties, including by advice.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists during a briefing on Wednesday: “He [Mr Ábrego García] will never live in the United States of America. “”
She was joined by the mother of a woman from Maryland, Rachel Morin, who was murdered in August 2023 by an alleged fugitive from El Salvador, in a separate case.
