Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, is on his way to El Salvador on Wednesday to press for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant and Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration and remains imprisoned in his native country despite a federal court order calling for his return to the United States.
Mr. Abrego Garcia was removed from the United States last month in what immigration officials have since acknowledged was an error. Although the Supreme Court has instructed the government to facilitate his return, both U.S. and Salvadoran authorities have so far refused to comply.
Mr. Van Hollen said he hoped to visit Mr. Abrego Garcia at the maximum security prison where he is being held, known as CECOT, about an hour outside the country’s capital. The senator also said he hoped to talk to Salvadoran officials about securing Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release.
“Following his abduction and unlawful deportation, U.S. federal courts have ordered the safe return of my constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States,” Mr. Van Hollen said in a statement before his departure. “It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release.”
The trip comes shortly after President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador traveled to Washington, D.C., this week for a meeting with Mr. Trump. Mr. Van Hollen had requested a meeting with Mr. Bukele during the visit, but received no response.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Bukele had appeared side-by-side in the Oval Office, with Mr. Bukele saying he had no intention of releasing Mr. Abrego Garcia and Mr. Trump saying he was powerless to seek his return.
Mr. Van Hollen said he was disturbed by those remarks and decided to travel to El Salvador himself.
“The goal of this mission is to let the Trump administration and the government of El Salvador know that we are going to keep fighting to bring Abrego Garcia home,” he said in a video posted to social media before boarding his flight.
With Congress in a two-week recess, Representatives Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California also planned to make a visit to El Salvador, according to two people familiar with their plans who discussed them on the condition of anonymity because they were not yet final.
The two wrote on Tuesday to Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the Oversight Committee, requesting an official congressional delegation be sent to the nation to conduct a “welfare check” on Mr. Abrego Garcia.
Mr. Frost and Mr. Garcia also said more oversight was needed given Mr. Trump’s remarks this week that he wanted to send “homegrown criminals” including American citizens to the prison where he is being held, which is known for human rights violations.
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