Maryland congressman says he was denied access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia during trip to El Salvador
Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey said he was denied access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he traveled to El Salvador to check on him. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from the U.S. in March.
Ivey told WJZ's Tara Lynch that the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador made a formal request to the Salvadoran government on his behalf before his trip.
"We were trying to meet with Kilmar, and that did not come together. I was, frankly, very angry about it," Ivey said.
Despite this, the congressman said he was told to go back to San Salvador and obtain a permit before he could visit Abrego Garcia in a prison in Santa Ana.
"…which is pretty ridiculous. It's an international delegation here," Ivey said.
Rep. Ivey visits El Salvador to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia
On social media, Ivey didn't hold back his frustration.
"They knew we were coming; they knew why we were coming, and they know we have the right to do this," Ivey said. "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 appeared in the video alongside Abrego Garcia's attorney and a member of a Maryland-based workers' union, which Abrego Garcia is also a member of.
The Prince George's County congressman said he also wanted to check on the conditions at the lower-security facility Abrego Garcia was moved to last month.
Ivey said he wanted to see how American tax dollars are being used to house these deportees in the contract between El Salvador and the United States.
"Congress doesn't even have access to that information yet, at least Democrats don't. We need to get that," Ivey said. "We've got the power in the purse. We've got a constitutional obligation to make sure that money is being used in the right way, but we can't figure that out if we don't even know how much is being spent."
Ivey's three-day visit also included discussions with Salvadoran lawyers, community advocates, and families of Salvadorans who have been "disappeared" to prisons.
Pressing the Trump administration on Abrego Garcia
Ivey said the pressure is still on President Trump and his administration, saying the President could make one phone call to bring Abrego Garcia home.
"We're going to continue to press the Trump administration to have him return, like the Supreme Court said should happen. And so he could have his day in court and have a due process," Ivey said.
The Trump administration has claimed it is up to the Salvadoran government to release Abrego Garcia. Other top administration officials have claimed Abrego Garcia would be placed in prison in the United States if he were returned.
Rep. Ivey becomes second Maryland leader to visit El Salvador
Ivey's trip comes one month after Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
Van Hollen was initially denied access to Abrego Garcia as well, before a meeting was finally coordinated.
Abrego Garcia is still in custody in El Salvador despite federal and Supreme Court orders that directed the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia deported from U.S.
Abrego Garcia was born in El Salvador and entered the U.S. illegally in 2011.
He lived in Maryland for 14 years before immigration officials detained him on March 12.
Three days later, he was sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, described as a maximum-security facility.
In 2019, he was granted a withholding of removal order, a legal status that should have prevented the government from deporting him to his home country because of a risk of persecution by local gangs.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Abrego Garcia's deportation was the result of an "administrative error."
Maryland lawmakers get involved in Abrego Garcia's case
State lawmakers have criticized the handling of Abrego Garcia's case, arguing it violates due process.
"It's clear that the government made a mistake," Ivey wrote on social media in April. "In fact, they admitted it. So he's being held illegally. The government has the authority to bring him back."
The Trump administration has labeled Abrego Garcia as a member of the MS-13 gang as court proceedings continue to play out.
His attorneys and relatives have denied those allegations, pointing to his lack of criminal convictions.
"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," Ivey said in April.
Where does Abrego Garcia's case stand?
Days before Abrego Garcia met with Sen. Van Hollen, he was moved from the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, to a lower security facility where he has his own room.
In May, the Trump administration invoked the state secrets privilege, enabling officials to withhold information from Abrego Garcia's attorneys and a federal judge in Maryland.
In response, Abrego Garcia's attorneys accused the administration of stonewalling court orders to facilitate his return to the United States.
In a federal court hearing on May 15, District Judge Paula Xinis expressed frustration with the government's lack of transparency in the case, stating that the administration had not provided enough information to justify its use of the state secrets privilege.
Recently, Sen. Van Hollen questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about why court information on Abrego Garcia is sealed and not being released publicly.
"What I won't comply with is an order to disclose what I'm saying and what we're talking about with the foreign leader because then they won't talk to me," Rubio later said. "Diplomacy doesn't work that way."
