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D-Md. Senator Chris Van Hollen has revealed new details about his meeting with Kilmer Abrego Garcia this week.
Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia on Thursday.
The Maryland Senator held a press conference at Washington Dulles International Airport on Friday when he returned from El Salvador, where he told reporters he had met with Abrego Garcia for over 30 minutes, informing him of public attention on his incident, which the senator said Abrego Garcia was not aware of.
“His conversation with me was my first communication with someone outside of prison since he was accused,” Van Hollen said. “He said he was very saddened to be in prison because he hadn’t committed any crime.”
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met in person with a man who was mistakenly deported and detained in an El Salvador prison. Reported by Jackie Bensen of News4.
Van Hollen told reporters that Abrego Garcia had “experienced trauma” and that he framed his deportation as an “illegal abduction.”
Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia told him he was “alright” and that he was able to see a doctor because of his “blood pressure condition.”
The senator said Abrego Garcia told him he was no longer in Cecot, the terrorism confinement center, and was transferred to another detention center in Santa Ana, El Salvador more than a week ago.
“But he said despite better conditions, he still had no access to news from the outside world and was not capable of communicating with anyone in the outside world,” Van Hollen said.
Abrego Garcia told Van Hollen that when he was concerned with members of his family, he “gives him patience” several times about his five-year-old son.
Van Hollen said that if Abrego Garcia is still alive, Abrego Garcia’s wife, mother and brother joined his press conference.
Images of Van Hollen’s encounter with Abrego Garcia on Thursday were first shared by Salvador President Naibe Buquere. He appeared to be underestimating concerns about Abrego Garcia’s captivity in a social media post.
Van Hollen on Friday denied the consumption of alcoholic beverages during the meeting, suggesting that Buquere’s post was an attempt to “set up” him and Abrego Garcia.
The senator said Buquel’s aide brought two glasses “looking like a margarita” to the table where he and Abrego Garcia met, and insisted on filming the encounter with a video camera.
“They actually wanted to hold a meeting on the side of the pool,” Van Hollen said. “I mean, this is a man who’s become a secret. This is a man in custody. They want to create this look that life was lovely for Kilmer, a big lie, of course.”
Representatives from the El Salvadoran Embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately return a request for comment Friday evening.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an immigrant in El Salvadoran, at the heart of a legal battle that can reconstruct American immigration policies. This is what you need to know.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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