Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen revealed on Wednesday that authorities in El Salvador denied him access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported from the United States and is currently being held in one of the country’s most notorious prisons.
Senator Van Hollen, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled to El Salvador to meet with top officials and advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release. However, he was informed by El Salvador’s Vice President, Felix Ulloa, that neither a visit nor a phone call with the detainee would be permitted.
According to Van Hollen, Ulloa claimed that El Salvador was keeping Abrego Garcia in custody because the United States was paying for his incarceration.
“Why should the government of the United States pay the government of El Salvador to lock up a man who was illegally abducted from the United States and committed no crime,” Van Hollen questioned.
As of the time of this report, the government of El Salvador has not issued a public response to Senator Van Hollen’s visit or his allegations.
Meanwhile, the situation has sparked a political firestorm in Washington. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the senator, accusing him of misusing public funds.
“It’s appalling and sad that Senator Van Hollen and the Democrats applauding his trip to El Salvador today are incapable of having any shred of common sense or empathy for their own constituents and our citizens,” Leavitt stated, adding that the senator was “potentially using taxpayer dollars to demand the release of a deported illegal alien MS-13 terrorist.”
The controversy stems from an earlier ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return after the government admitted he had been wrongfully deported due to an administrative error.
Despite the court’s decision, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele told President Donald Trump during a meeting at the White House on Monday that he had no intention of returning Abrego Garcia.
Complicating matters further, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it lacks the authority to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States, raising questions about how the court’s directive will be enforced.
The case continues to unfold amid growing tensions over immigration policy, international cooperation, and human rights.
