Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said on Wednesday that he was denied a request to visit a man deported to an El Salvador prison.
Van Hollen told reporters that El Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa declined to grant his request to check on Abrego Garcia, who he believes was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration.
"He said he could not arrange that," He said, "maybe if the American embassy were to ask, maybe that could happen," Van Hollen told reporters in El Salvador.
The Maryland senator traveled to El Salvador to check on Abrego Garcia's well-being on behalf of his family and to push for his release.
Van Hollen was told “more time was needed” for a visit to the prison to be arranged. The vice president also declined to arrange a date for the next week or connect the senator on the phone with him.
"He said what President Bukele said the other day at the White House, which that, El Salvador can't smuggle Mr. Abrego Garcia into the U.S. And I told him I'm not asking him to smuggle Mr. Abrego Garcia into the United States. I'm simply asking him to open the door of CECT and let this innocent man walk out," Van Hollen said.
Garcia hasn't been charged with a crime, the senator argued, or proven to be affiliated with a criminal transnational organization. He questioned why El Salvador is continuing to hold a man without any evidence that he ever committed a crime.
Van Hollen said that MS-13 has nothing to do with Garcia.
"If you listen to President Trump and the Trump administration, you would think that the U.S courts have found that Mr. Abrego Garcia is part of MS-13, but in fact, they have not found that. In fact, recently, a U.S federal court judge said that the trump administration had no evidence to support the claim that he had ever been part of MS-13."
Meanwhile, the White House has maintained that the case is out of its hands unless El Salvador decides to send Abrego Garcia back to the United States, but the country has made it clear that it has no plans to return him.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized the senator for prioritizing a criminal illegal immigrant over his own constituents.
The senator, however, said he has worked for more than two decades in his state to crack down on MS-13 and looks forward to further efforts to crack down on violent gangs.
Despite his requests being denied, Van Hollen said he will continue to push for Garcia's release, adding that he is the first senator to visit El Salvador for this high-profile case but expects there will be more.
Van Hollen plans on making a request to the American Embassy next to facilitate a visit.