Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he was denied entry into the El Salvador prison where Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held.
Van Hollen, a Democrat, is in El Salvador to push for Abrego Garcia’s release after he was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation. He said in a video posted on X that his car was stopped when he tried to enter the prison on Thursday to check on Abrego Garcia’s well-being.
“Today’s purpose was just to see what his health condition is,” Van Hollen said in the video. He said his car was stopped by soldiers about 3 kilometers from the prison, even as they let other cars go on.
“They stopped us because they are under orders not to allow us to proceed,” Van Hollen said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said this week that they have no basis to send him back, even as the U.S. Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return. Trump officials have said that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, has ties to the MS-13 gang, but his attorneys say the government has provided no evidence of that and Abrego Garcia has never been charged with any crime related to such activity.
Van Hollen told reporters Wednesday that he met with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa who said his government could not return Abrego Garcia to the United States.