After failed trip to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Maryland congressman says El Salvador mission was "beyond disappointing"

CBS News

6 days ago

Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey expressed disappointment after returning from El Salvador without being able to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was mistakenly deported from the U.S. in March.
Abrego Garcia remains in custody in a Salvadoran facility despite ICE admitting his deportation was due to an administrative error and despite federal and Supreme Court orders for the Trump administration to facilitate his return.
Rep. Ivey denied access
Rep. Ivey traveled to El Salvador on Friday, May 23. Before making the trip, Ivey said he made a formal request with the Salvadoran ambassador to see Abrego Garcia and confirmed with the Salvadoran government through the U.S. ambassador.
Despite his planning, Ivey said when he arrived at a prison in Santa Ana to see Abrego Garcia, he was denied access and told to go back to San Salvador to get a permit.
"They knew why we were coming, and they know we have the right to do this," Ivey said in a social media video. "So, they need to just cut the crap. Let us get in there and have a chance to see him and talk with him."
After returning to the U.S. on Tuesday, May 27, Ivey told WJZ that he was not given a reason for being denied a meeting.
"There's no real good reason for it," Ivey said. "They routinely let in Republican members of Congress, media outlets that they think are sympathetic."
Checking on Salvadoran prison conditions
Ivey said one of the goals of his trip was to check on the conditions at the lower-security facility that Abrego Garcia was moved to after he was initially held at CECOT, a notorious supermax prison.
Ivey also said he wanted to see how American taxpayer dollars were being used to house deportees in El Salvador.
"As a member of Congress, you know, we have collectively the power of the purse," Ivey said. "We have oversight obligations and responsibilities. We're supposed to go look at things like how American tax dollars are being spent."
Abrego Garcia's attorney and a member of a Maryland-based workers' union joined Ivey for the trip.
"It was, I thought, you know, beyond disappointing that they wouldn't allow an international delegation from Congress to go in and visit," Ivey told WJZ.
Rep. Ivey: U.S. is paying El Salvador to jail deportees
Abrego Garcia was among nearly 230 men who were put on a flight and deported from the U.S. to a Salvadoran prison in March.
The Trump administration claimed they were all terrorists and gang members, and used a World War II-era law to send them to El Salvador.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers and family have repeatedly denied claims that he is affiliated with a gang, citing his clean criminal record.
According to Rep. Ivey and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who met with Abrego Garcia in March, the Salvadoran government is being paid by the U.S. to keep the deportees as prisoners.
"I'm not even completely sure there's an actual written agreement between the United States and El Salvador," Rep. Ivey said. "But my understanding is the United States, the Trump administration is paying millions of dollars to the Bukele administration, the president of El Salvador, in exchange for them jailing deportees from the United States."
Sen. Van Hollen shared a similar sentiment after meeting with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa.
"...the Government of El Salvador is holding [Abrego Garica] solely at the request of your Administration and, specifically, because you are paying them to imprison him," Van Hollen said in a letter to President Trump.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case plays out in court
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally and lived in Maryland for 14 years before he was taken into custody by ICE agents.
In 2019, he was granted a withholding of removal order that should have prevented him from being deported to his native country of El Salvador.
After his March deportation, Abrego Garcia filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, sparking a legal battle that continues to play out in court.
A federal judge and the Supreme Court have both ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.
However, in mid-May, attorneys for Abrego Garcia accused the administration of stonewalling the court orders after the government invoked the states secrets privilege, allowing them to withhold information from the court.
"Judges at every level of the federal court system have said 'bring him back,'" Ivey told WJZ. "It's just a question of how long the Trump administration is going to continue to try and ignore those obvious orders and drag their feet and avoid the ultimate day in court that Kilmar deserves and should get under the Constitution."