The wife of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, joined lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to demand his return to the United States. 

Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and advocates are seeking answers and accountability from the Trump administration over the erroneous deportation.

"Kilmar, if you can hear me, I'm still fighting for you," Vasquez Sura said. "Your brother, your mother, our children are still fighting for you. We're not going to give up hope."

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, from Maryland, was one of 31 senators who signed off on a five-page letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) calling for Abrego Garcia to be released from a notorious supermax prison in El Salvador.

"What has happened here should never happen in the United States of America," Sen. Van Hollen said.

Abrego Garcia was deported in March after ICE agents apprehended him while he was leaving work in Baltimore, and the government admitted it was a mistake.   

"My husband, Kilmar, was abducted and disappeared by the Trump administration," Vasquez Sura said. "This so-called administration error has destroyed my family's happiness, my children's innocence."

U.S. senator: "The Trump administration is lying"

Sen. Van Hollen had harsh words for Vice President JD Vance, who posted on social media that Abrego Garcia is a "convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here."

"The Trump administration is lying," Sen. Van Hollen said. "JD Vance lied through his teeth when he said Kilmar had been convicted of a crime in the United States. Absolutely false, and the vice president of the United States should apologize to the family, and he should do it now."

The vice president showed no signs of backing down in a recent Fox News interview. 

"This was unquestionably an illegal alien," Vance said. "This was unquestionably a person who broke the laws to get into our country. This is unquestionably a person an immigration judge found had zero right to be in the United States of America. We do not ask permission from far-left democrats before we deport illegal immigrants." 

Sen. Van Hollen argued that Abrego Garcia was living legally in Maryland under protected status.

"Mr. Abrego Garcia is a father who was living legally, under protected status, in Maryland with his family until he was deported without due process by the Trump Administration last month to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador," Sen. Van Hollen said.

Abrego Garcia's return to U.S. paused

On Friday, April 4, a federal judge in Maryland ordered Abrego Garcia to be returned to the United States by 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 7.

Judge Paula Xinis called the mistaken deportation a "grievous error." 

However, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused the lower court's order, keeping Abrego Garcia in El Salvador to give the court more time to consider the matter.

Chief Justice John Roberts ordered all sides to submit further arguments by 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 8. 

"To the Supreme Court justices, do the right thing. History will always remember you," said Vasquez Sura.

According to CBS News, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block that district court order, claiming that it "sets the United States up for failure" because it cannot compel El Salvador to "follow a federal judge's bidding."

Abrego Garcia's alleged gang affiliation

After Abgrego Garcia's arrest in March, he was taken to Baltimore City, then to Louisiana and Texas, before the Trump administration flew him to the CECOT prison in El Salvador. 

Albrego Garcia has no criminal record in the U.S. or El Salvador, but ICE officials said he is an MS-13 gang member and a "danger to the community." 

Abrego Garcia's attorneys have argued in court filings that the only evidence linking him to alleged gang activity comes from a confidential informant who claimed he was an active MS-13 member. Officials also cited the fact that Abrego Garcia was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and sweatshirt at the time of his arrest.

Senators question ICE's enforcement practices

In a letter sent to ICE on Tuesday, 31 senators, including Sen. Van Hollen, requested that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE respond to several questions regarding the legal process surrounding immigration enforcement and Abrego Garcia's case.

The senators asked why the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are deviating from what they called "well-established procedures and practices for returning people to the U.S. who were erroneously deported".

Additionally, they asked for "any evidence" to prove that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13.

The letter also urged the administration to identify any other cases where immigrants with protected status were deported "without due process," and to commit to a full review of all deportation cases to ensure there have been no similar errors. They also pressed for a clear plan to protect the rights of immigrants with legal protections in the future.