Senator Van Hollen Appeals to Trump for Return of Deported Immigrant

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is urging President Trump to intervene in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported and is currently imprisoned in El Salvador. Van Hollen argues that the Trump Administration is violating constitutional and due process rights by refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order directing Garcia's return. During a visit to El Salvador, Van Hollen was told by Vice President Félix Ulloa that Garcia is being held solely due to a financial arrangement in which the U.S. government pays El Salvador to detain deportees, and that the decision to release Garcia rests with the U.S. government. Despite admissions of administrative error by the Trump Administration, the White House continues to resist facilitating Garcia's return and has publicly attacked both Garcia and Van Hollen. Van Hollen has called for a tourism boycott of El Salvador until the situation is resolved and has warned that the case sets a dangerous precedent for constitutional rights. Trump, meanwhile, claims, without evidence, that Garcia is an MS-13 gang member and has declined to intervene.