US Senator Van Hollen in El Salvador!
San Salvador, Apr 16 (EFE).-
United States Chris Van Hollen called on El Salvador’s Vice President Félix Ulloa Wednesday to secure the release of Kilmar Ábrego, a Salvadoran man detained in the country’s mega prison after being deported from the United States, despite holding legal immigration status here.
Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to visit the high-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to check on Ábrego’s condition, was denied access.
“I asked Vice President Ulloa to help arrange a visit to CECOT,” Van Hollen told reports at a press conference in San Salvador. “He said certain prior arrangements were needed and that it wasn’t within his power to make it happen.”
The senator also requested a phone or a video call with Ábrego García but that too was denied.
According to Van Hollen, there is no evidence in US courts linking Ábrego to the criminal gang MS-13, and El Salvador has also failed to present any proof. “There are no records of wrongdoing by Mr. Ábrego in the United States,” Van Hollen said, reiterating that the 24-year-old was not involved in any criminal activity.
He stated he would now press the US Embassy in El Salvador to establish communication with Ábrego to determine his well-being.
Ábrego is one of over 200 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, deported from the US on Mar. 16 and sent directly to CECOT without legal recourse, in what human rights groups have described as “enforced disappearances.”
The Trump administration has defended the deportations, claiming the migrants are tied to transnational criminal groups, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), both recently designated as terrorist organizations by the US government.
However, investigative reports by multiple US media outlets have indicated that most of the deported individuals have no criminal records.
Despite a recent US Supreme Court ruling upholding a lower Maryland court’s order for the federal government to “facilitate” Ábrego’s return, officials in both the US and El Salvador claim they lack the authority to enforce the ruling.
During a visit to the White House earlier this week, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele refused to release Ábrego, labeling him a terrorist and falsely claiming that repatriating him would violate US law.
The Trump administration has also declined to provide details about Ábrego’s situation to the Maryland court, citing a classified agreement between the two countries.
Officials have only confirmed that Ábrego is alive.
Ábrego, who is married to a US citizen and was legally residing in Maryland, was arrested at a traffic checkpoint.
According to court filings, he had fled El Salvador after receiving threats and extortion demands from members of the Barrio 18 gangs. EFE
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