Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Friday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration, reported having been traumatized during nearly three weeks inside a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador before being transferred to another detention facility where he remains in isolation.
The Maryland Democrat, who traveled to El Salvador to press for Mr. Abrego Garcia’s release and ended up meeting with him in San Salvador, said he had been transferred nine days ago from the CECOT prison to a lower-level facility in Santa Ana.
“He said that the conditions were better at this new detention center, but he was still in a total blackout,” Mr. Van Hollen said of Mr. Abrego Garcia in an interview before arriving back in Washington from the visit. “No news from the outside world. Can’t speak to anybody at all.”
At a news conference at the airport after returning, Mr. Van Hollen said during his time at the maximum security prison, Mr. Abrego Garcia had said “he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell, but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways.”
During their meeting Thursday evening, Mr. Abrego Garcia shared details with Mr. Van Hollen about his initial arrest and time at CECOT, which houses some of the most dangerous criminals in the nation and is known for human rights abuses. He described having been detained and initially taken to Baltimore, where he had asked to make a phone call but been denied. He was then taken to a detention facility in Texas before being handcuffed and shackled, placed on a plane with blacked-out windows with other deportees, and eventually deposited at CECOT. There, he was placed in a cell with about 25 others, according to Mr. Van Hollen.
“He said that he felt very sad to be in a place that’s meant for criminals,” Mr. Van Hollen said of Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who entered the United States illegally but was given a deportation reprieve in 2019. “That’s not who he is.”
Following their meeting, where Mr. Abrego Garcia showed up dressed in plainclothes and wearing a baseball cap, he was returned to the detention center where he is now being held.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador indicated in a social media post acknowledging the meeting that his government would not heed the calls to return to the man to the United States, despite having no evidence that he has committed any crimes or has affiliations with any criminal gangs, as both the Bukele and Trump administrations have alleged.
After more than a month with no access to television, internet or media of any kind from beyond the walls and gates of the prison, Mr. Van Hollen said that Mr. Abrego Garcia had been heartened to learn of the attention his case had garnered in the United States
“I told him that everyone from his family to his labor unions, to people through Maryland and in fact millions throughout the country were calling for him to have his full rights restored,” Mr. Van Hollen said. “He was clearly strengthened by the fact that people were fighting to ensure that his rights are protected.”.
The senator recounted that Mr. Abrego Garcia grew emotional when hearing about his wife, mother and children, and showed particular concern for his 5-year-old son, who has autism and was with him when he was detained.
“He immediately started welling up and tearing and crying — you could physically see the teardrops rolling down his cheek,” Mr. Van Hollen said. “And he said that what he was most worried about was how they were doing, which I found extraordinary given the fact he’d been illegally abducted, sent to CECOT and is still illegally detained.”
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