Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said he would visit El Salvador if the Maryland man mistakenly deported there isn’t returned to the United States by midweek.
Van Hollen requested a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia never should have been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to help return Abrego Garcia, but it refused to follow the directive. Attorneys with the Department of Justice characterized the court’s directive as meaning the administration must allow Abrego Garcia to enter the U.S. but not ensure that he does.
“However, since the Trump administration appears to be ignoring these court mandates, we need to take additional action. That’s why I’ve requested to meet with President Bukele during his trip to the United States, and — if Kilmar is not home by midweek — I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release,” he added.
Bukele said he was unwilling to return the man to the U.S. in his meeting with Trump on Monday.
“The question is preposterous,” Bukele said. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”
He said he wasn’t “very fond of releasing terrorists into our country” when asked whether he’d release Abrego Garcia into El Salvador instead.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers denied accusations that he is tied to the primarily Salvadoran MS-13 gang. He is being held in a Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman, also requested a meeting between Bukele and his caucus.
“Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will never stop the fight in the United States to secure his return,” he said. “I respectfully request that you release Mr. Abrego Garcia from his unlawful detention in CECOT and allow him the space to rejoin his family members in the U.S.”
“Additionally, given that his family has not heard from him in nearly 30 days and his well-being remains unknown, I am formally requesting an official visit to CECOT to speak with Mr. Abrego Garcia,” he added.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi said the U.S. would facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia if El Salvador wanted to.
“That’s not up to us,” she said. “If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.”
