Van Hollen fails in attempt to meet Abrego Garcia, wrongly deported MS-13 suspect

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he was stopped by Salvadoran soldiers when he tried to visit Thursday with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the MS-13 suspect who the senator claimed was “illegally abducted” and deported back to El Salvador.

Mr. Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, said he and a lawyer for Mr. Abrego Garcia’s family were stopped when they got to within 3 kilometers of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. He said the soldiers said they were ordered to block the senator from making a pilgrimage to the prison.

Mr. Van Hollen warned El Salvador that it could face consequences, such as loss of American funds, if the government “remains complicit in the illegal detention of Mr. Abrego Garcia.”

“We won’t give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected,” Mr. Van Hollen said.

Salvadoran officials have said Mr. Van Hollen didn’t make a proper request for access to Mr. Abrego Garcia.

Other U.S. officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, have been granted access to a general tour of the facility.

Mr. Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant to the U.S. who has been ordered deported by an immigration judge, has become an odd fault line in American politics.

Democrats are rallying around him and blasting the Trump administration for arresting him on March 12 and deporting him three days later to El Salvador. The immigration judge had said in 2019 that while he should be deported, he couldn’t be sent to El Salvador in particular because he faced the chance of violence.

The White House says Democrats have chosen an odd martyr.

New documents released earlier this week show that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife, who is now begging for his return, accused him of beating her four years ago. Jennifer Vasquez said he punched and scratched her, tore her clothes and left her bruised.

In a request for a protective order, she said she was “afraid to be close to him.”

An immigration judge also found Mr. Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13, citing a confidential police source report that identified him by his gang nickname and rank.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who has ordered the government to try to get Mr. Abrego Garcia back, has discounted the MS-13 ties, saying that evidence wasn’t presented in her courtroom this year.

Mr. Van Hollen on Thursday took a more circumspect approach to the case, saying he’s not trying to referee the facts.

He said his goal is to make sure a former constituent of his — Mr. Abrego Garcia had been in Maryland when he was arrested last month — gets another day in court.

“I am here not to vouch for any particular set of facts,” Mr. Van Hollen said. “I am here to vouch for the judicial system in the United States, which guarantees individuals the right to due process.”

Mr. Van Hollen is the first Democrat to personally attempt to get to Mr. Abrego Garcia. But he said others will follow.

And he said they may retaliate against El Salvador if it doesn’t release the man.

“If the government of El Salvador remains complicit in the illegal detention of Mr. Abrego Garcia in CECOT prison, then there will be, I think, actions proposed certainly to take until we resolve this very important issue.”

He added that he thought taxpayers might balk at seeing their money go to fund activities in El Salvador.

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, has said Mr. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen now being held under his authority. He has mocked the idea of releasing the man.

The Trump administration has said if Mr. Abrego Garcia were to return to the U.S., he would be immediately detained and the government would quickly deport him again, citing his MS-13 membership. MS-13 is now a designated terrorist organization.

While his administration talks tough, President Trump distanced himself from the matter on Thursday.

“Well, I’m not involved in it,” he said, saying it was now a matter for “the lawyers.”

- Mallory Wilson contributed to this article.