MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Here are a few things to know about a man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He is a citizen of El Salvador who lived and worked in Maryland for about 15 years - eventually with a work permit - until last month, when he was illegally deported to a prison in El Salvador. The Supreme Court says the Trump administration must facilitate his return to the U.S. The administration has refused to do so, which is where Senator Chris Van Hollen enters the picture. The Maryland Democrat hopped on a plane yesterday to El Salvador to try to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The senator is on the line now from the capital. Senator Van Hollen, welcome.
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.
KELLY: So you tried to visit Abrego Garcia in prison today. What happened?
VAN HOLLEN: I did. I took a car to try to go to CECOT, which is this notorious prison where Abrego Garcia is being held. And I was stopped by soldiers about three kilometers out who said they'd been ordered not to allow me to go see him. My mission today was simply to see how his health is, what his condition is.
KELLY: Did they say why they had been ordered not to let you visit?
VAN HOLLEN: They simply said they had been given orders not to allow me to visit him. And I met yesterday with the vice president of El Salvador and asked him if I could go visit him. I asked him at least to take mercy on this individual. I pointed out that he'd been illegally abducted from the United States and that El Salvador should not be complicit in holding this individual.
KELLY: This is Vice President Felix Ulloa. What did he say in response?
VAN HOLLEN: He said that El Salvador was being paid by the Trump administration, by the government of the United States, and this was essentially their obligation - their contractual obligation. I pointed out that El Salvador is a sovereign country, and they really shouldn't be complicit in this illegal detention of Abrego Garcia.
KELLY: Did he give any details on the payment?
VAN HOLLEN: We know from reporting that the Trump administration plans to pay about $15 million to the government of El Salvador to hold people who are being...
KELLY: Yeah.
VAN HOLLEN: ...(Inaudible) the United States.
KELLY: So the president of El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele, says he does not have the authority to bring someone back to the U.S. And as you know, the Trump administration says they cannot interfere with someone who is a Salvadoran citizen in El Salvador. So where does that leave Abrego Garcia?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, No.1, the Trump administration has the duty to facilitate his return, and that was just upheld by the 4th Circuit, who backed up the district court judge in this case. So they have an obligation to do that. I said to the vice president of El Salvador, we're not asking you to smuggle Abrego Garcia into the United States. We're simply asking you to let him out of this notorious prison, and Attorney General Bondi said publicly that we'd send a plane to pick him up.
KELLY: Here in Washington, as you may well know, the White House is doubling down. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said if he - Abrego Garcia - if he ever ends up back in the United States, he would immediately be deported again. And they are saying, although they have not shared evidence, that this man is a member of a gang. Another member of Congress, Jason Smith of Missouri - he's one of a couple of Republicans who were granted access to this prison this week - he says Democrats are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into the country. Are you urging the release of foreign criminals into our country?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, this is the big lie being perpetrated by the president, his administration and some Republicans in Congress. What we're doing is simply trying to uphold the Constitution of the United States as it was determined by a federal district court judge, by nine Supreme Court justices who agreed that he should be brought back to the United States, and now the 4th (inaudible) . And the goal here is to have a court of law, through due process, determine the outcome. I'm not vouching for any particular (inaudible). I'm fighting to uphold the due process rights of every individual.
KELLY: In a sentence or two, what is your next move, Senator?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, my next move will be to continue to shine a spotlight on this until he gets his full due process. That's what we're asking, that's what the courts of the United States have ordered, and that's what the Trump administration is flouting. So we have to push the Trump administration but also the government of El Salvador (ph) because they right now are complicit in all of this.
KELLY: Maryland Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen. He's on the line with us from El Salvador. Senator, thank you.
VAN HOLLEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
