166su

El Salvador’s government has denied Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen from visiting a mistakenly deported immigrant, Kilmar Ábrego García, who is currently being detained in a mega-prison. The Democratic senator says that the El Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa denied his request to visit and speak with Ábrego García either over the phone or in person.  During a meeting with Ulloa and US embassy officials in San Salvador, Van Hollen received no assurances that he would be permitted to speak with Ábrego García. "I’m asking President Bukele under his authority as president of El Salvador to do the right thing and allow Mr. Abrego Garcia to walk out of a prison — a man who’s charged with no crime, convicted of no crime and who was illegally abducted from the United States," said Van Hollen.  Van Hollen has also claimed that El Salvador’s refusal to release Ábrego García is due to the funding it is receiving from the Trump Administration to ensure he remains in detention.  The visit came after the Trump Administration refused a Supreme Court order asking it to “facilitate” Ábrego García’s return to the US, which the administration said is up to the El Salvadoran government.  Van Hollen, who accused Trump of causing a “constitutional crisis” in the US, plans to “hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release” while on his visit.  The Trump Administration wrongfully accused Ábrego García of being an MS-13 gang member, leading to his arrest, deportation, and imprisonment in the maximum-security facility, CECOT. Van Hollen called Ábrego García an “innocent man” and accused the administration of “lying” to cover up its mistake in wrongfully deporting him.