CNN —
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who recently met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, slammed the Trump administration for its handling of the Maryland man’s mistaken deportation, telling CNN it poses a threat to “the constitutional rights of everybody in America.”
Van Hollen, in an interview which aired Sunday on CNN, argued Abrego Garcia’s due process rights are being ignored as he remains in El Salvador after being mistakenly deported.
“If we deny the constitutional rights of this one man, it threatens the constitutional rights of everybody in America,” the Maryland Democrat told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Van Hollen traveled last week to El Salvador, where he was first denied a meeting with Abrego Garcia. The senator was ultimately allowed to meet Thursday evening with the Maryland father, who described being “traumatized” at El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, according to Van Hollen.
In a news conference Friday upon his return to the US, Van Hollen said that Abrego Garcia was moved from the maximum-security prison into another facility, where “conditions are better.”
Though the White House has admitted that Abrego Garcia — an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador whom a judge ordered in 2019 could not be removed to his home country over fear of persecution — was mistakenly deported last month, President Donald Trump’s administration and the El Salvadoran government have said he will not be returned to the US.
When asked by Bash whether Van Hollen would be OK with Abrego Garcia’s deportation if it goes through due process, the senator said: “I’m OK with whatever the rule of law dictates.”
Van Hollen also brushed off criticism, including from California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, that Democrats should focus on a more viable issue, such as the economy, rather than on Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
“I don’t think it’s ever wrong to fight for the constitutional rights of one person, because if we give up on one person’s rights, we threaten everybody’s rights,” Van Hollen said, adding, “Anyone who is not prepared to stand up and fight for the Constitution doesn’t deserve to lead.”
The Trump administration is embroiled in a legal back-and-forth over Abrego Garcia’s deportation and has remained defiant that it will not bring back the deported man.
The senator said the Trump administration is not complying with court orders, alleging the White House hasn’t made efforts to facilitate his return.
“Facilitate does not mean you do nothing,” Van Hollen told Bash, referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling that ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia but stopped short of mandating it.
Van Hollen shared that during his trip, employees of the US Embassy in the capital of San Salvador said they have not received “any direction from the Trump administration to help facilitate his release.”
The White House has also attempted to paint Abrego Garcia as a violent and dangerous criminal, alleging that he is a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s family and lawyers have denied he’s a gang member.
Asked by Bash whether Van Hollen asked Abrego Garcia whether he has or previously had any ties to MS-13, the senator said he did not “because I know what his answer is.”
“What he told me was he was sad and traumatized that he was being in prison because he has committed no crimes,” Van Hollen added.
The Maryland senator also stressed that the Trump administration has not provided any evidence of Abrego Garcia’s alleged gang ties in court and said it is using the claims to “change the subject.”
“What Donald Trump is trying to do here is change the subject,” Van Hollen said. “The subject at hand is that he and his administration are defying a court order to give Abrego Garcia his due process rights.”
