The vice president of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, refused to allow Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the Trump administration said it mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.
“I asked him if I came back next week whether I’d be able to see Mr. Abrego Garcia. He said he couldn’t promise that either,” Van Hollen said.
The Maryland senator, who represents the state where Abrego Garcia lived before he was sent to a prison in El Salvador, called the Trump administration’s resistance to facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. an attempt to “cover up” his wrongful deportation.
Van Hollen said Wednesday afternoon that he was told by the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador that “they’ve received no direction from the Trump administration to help facilitate his release.”
"The Trump administration is clearly in violation of American court orders," Van Hollen added.
