Maryland congressman says he was denied access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Maryland congressman says he was denied access to constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) said he was denied access in El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the suspected MS-13 gang member mistakenly deported by the Trump administration.
Ivey, who represents the congressional district in which Abrego Garcia lived, said he contacted a Salvadoran ambassador to make a request to their government before his trip. Despite that outreach, he added, he was denied access to the prison where Abrego Garcia is being held.
“They knew we were coming, they knew why we were coming, and they know we have the right to do this,” Ivey said in a video posted on X on Monday. “So, they need to just cut the crap, let us get in there and have a chance to see him and talk with him.”
Ivey noted he was told to travel to San Salvador to obtain a permit before he could visit Abrego Garcia. He appeared in the video alongside Abrego Garcia’s attorney and a member of CASA, the Maryland-based union he was part of.
Ivey’s visit comes after Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) traveled to El Salvador in April to visit Abrego Garcia at CECOT, the country’s notorious mega-prison where he has remained in custody. Van Hollen was denied visitation access at first, but was later allowed to meet him.
In court filings, the Trump administration said Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported due to an “administrative error.” Federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return to the U.S., but it has not done so.
The administration invoked the state secrets privilege in order to withhold information from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys and a federal judge in Maryland. In response, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys accused the Trump administration of delaying the court’s orders to facilitate his return.
In April, Ivey said, “At this point, I’m just assuming that [the Trump administration is] scared to bring him back because they’ll have to go to court and explain all of the false statements that they’ve apparently made about him.”
DEMOCRATS BERATE NOEM FOR NOT FACILITATING RETURN OF DEPORTED ABREGO GARCIA
Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland for 14 years after entering the U.S. around 2011 without authorization. His attorneys argue he “is not a member of or has no affiliation with Tren de Aragua, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang” and said that the U.S. government “has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation.”
A judge ruled that in 2019, Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not to El Salvador, as he faced a legitimate threat of violence due to gang activity in his native country.
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