Cnn
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Senator Chris Van Hollen, who recently met Kilmar Abrego Garcia, criticized the Trump administration for his management of the erroneous expulsion of the Maryland man, telling CNN that he represents a threat to “the constitutional rights of everyone in America”.
Van Hollen, in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday on CNN, argued that the rights of the regular procedure of Abrego Garcia are ignored because it remains in Salvador after being wrongly expelled.
“If we refuse the constitutional rights of this man, he threatens the constitutional rights of everyone in America,” said Maryland Democrat to Dana Bash de CNN on “State of the Union”.
Van Hollen traveled last week in Salvador, where he first refused a meeting with Abrego Garcia. The senator was finally allowed to meet Thursday evening with the father of Maryland, who described being “traumatized” at the famous Cecot prison of El Salvador, according to Van Hollen.
On Friday, during a press conference on his return to the United States, Van Hollen said that Greo Garcia had been moved from the maximum security prison in another establishment, where “the conditions are better”.
Although the White House has admitted that Garcia Garcia – an undocumented immigrant from Salvador, that a judge ordered in 2019 could not be moved to his country of origin for fear of persecution – was wrongly expelled last month, the administration of President Donald Trump and the El Salvadoran government said it would not have returned to the United States.
When asked by Bash if Van Hollen would agree with the expulsion of Abrego Garcia if it involves regular procedure, the senator said: “I agree with the rule of law.”
Van Hollen has also changed criticism, notably from the California Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, that Democrats should focus on a more viable issue, like the economy, rather than the deportation of Abrego Garcia.
“I do not think it is never false to fight for the constitutional rights of a person, because if we abandon the rights of a person, we threaten the rights of everyone,” said Van Hollen, adding: “Whoever is not ready to get up and fight for the Constitution does not deserve to lead.”
The Trump administration is involved in a legal back and forth on the expulsion of Abrego Garcia and remained provocative so as not to bring the expelled man.
The senator said that the Trump administration did not comply with the judicial orders, alleging that the White House had not made efforts to facilitate its return.
“Facilitating does not mean that you do nothing,” Van Hollen told Bash, referring to the Decision of the Supreme Court which ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia but which originally stopped.
Van Hollen shared that during his trip, employees of the United States Embassy in the capital of San Salvador said that they had received “no management of the Trump administration to help facilitate his release”.
The White House also tried to paint Abrego Garcia as a violent and dangerous criminal, alleging that he is a member of the Gang MS-13. Abrego Garcia’s family and lawyers denied that he was a member of a gang.
Questioned by Bash if Van Hollen asked Abrego Garcia if he had or before ties with MS-13, the senator said that he did not “because I know what his answer is”.
“What he told me was that he was sad and traumatized that he was in prison because he did not commit any crime,” added Van Hollen.
The Maryland senator also stressed that the Trump administration had provided no evidence of alleged ties of Abrego Garcia gangs and said that he used the allegations to “modify the subject”.
“What Donald Trump is trying to do here is changing the subject,” said Van Hollen. “The subject of hand is that he and his administration challenge a court to give Abrego Garcia his rights to regular procedure.”
