Senator Chris Van Hollen, who flew to El Salvador this week, flew to El Salvador to meet with illegal alien Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who was deported before being denied multiple times, but was granted his request Thursday night.
“I said the main goal of this trip was to meet Kilmer,” Van Hollen said in an X’s post.
Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was deported to the MegaPrison Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) in El Salvador last month. Authorities have confirmed that he was deported. Both the federal and Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his release and return to the United States for a proper deportation lawsuit.
Van Hollen announced on Tuesday that he would go to El Salvador to visit Garcia on Wednesday, and that other Democrats and he would also be visiting him.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Senator Van Hollen (X/@Chrisvanhollen)
However, when Van Hollen arrived, El Salvador President Naive Buquere was abroad and Maryland Senator met Vice President Felix Augusto Antonio Ulloa Galley instead.
“I asked the vice president if I could meet Abrego Garcia and he said, ‘Well, you need to make the previous clause to visit Secott,” Van Hollen said.
He told Uroa that he was not interested in the CECOT tour and that he just wanted to meet Abrego Garcia.
State Senator Blue flies to El Salvador and visits deported migrants from prison, but is only denied
Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Senator Van Hollen (X/@Nayibbukele)
“He said he couldn’t make it happen,” Van Hollen said of Ullore.
The senator was also told he could not promise a visit if he returned next week, and he could not arrange for Abrego Garcia to talk to his family over the phone.
On Thursday, Van Hollen continued to push for entry to CECOT, but he was denied.
“We were there for one simple reason. His family and lawyers are not allowed to do that to check his happiness,” Van Hollen said in X. “We won’t stop fighting.”
Court of Appeals rejects DOJ’s bid to block Kilmer Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador Prison
His goal of meeting Abrego Garcia is given later, and images of the two men show them sitting at a tropical table with water and coffee. Other photos shared by Bukele showcased water glasses with seasoned edges and cherry-painted decorations, with Sen. Van Hollen shaking hands with Abrego Garcia.
“Kilmer Abrego Garcia miraculously rises from “death camp” and “torture” and sipping Margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in El Salvador’s tropical paradise! cried Bukele in X’s post.
In another post, Bukere wrote, “It has been confirmed that he is in good health, so he will receive the honor of staying in El Salvador’s detention.”
“Maryland Man” Kilmer Abrego Garcia has been exposed to police records as a “violent” repeatedly wife beater
Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Senator Van Hollen (X/@Nayibbukele)
Earlier in the day, the federal court of appeals denied the Trump administration’s urgent request to block the judge’s order demanding that the US government return Abrego Garcia to the United States
The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to lift the judge’s order to “promote” a judge’s return from CECOT, but the court on Thursday refused the request.
The three judge panel was appointed Judge Harvey Wilkinson, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, and Judges Robert King and Stephanie Soccer, respectively, and by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, respectively.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Senator Van Hollen (X/@Nayibbukele)
In the court’s opinion, Wilkinson repeatedly referred to Abrego Garcia as a “resident” despite Abrego Garcia not a legal US resident.
The court said the DOJ’s request was “extraordinarily, premature” and would not hinder the district court’s efforts to implement the Supreme Court’s decision.
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Attorney General Pam Bondy said Abrego Garcia will not be allowed to return to the United States unless El Salvador decides otherwise. “He’s not back in our country.”
The Trump administration released information Wednesday, showing that Abrego Garcia’s wife accused him of her repeated abuse.
Fox News has obtained a written domestic violence allegation filed in court by his wife Jennifer Vasquez in 2021 against 29-year-old Kilmer Abrego Garcia.
In a handwritten filing by Vasquez herself, she claims that Abrego Garcia has repeatedly beaten her, saying, “At this point, I am afraid to approach him. [has] He left me. ”
The Department of Homeland Security has also published a document certifying that Abrego Garcia is a member of the infamous MS-13 gang. The Trump administration has declared a foreign terrorist organization.
Jasmine Baehr and Bill Mears of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and ideas can be sent to greg.wehner @fox.com and Twitter @gregwehner.
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