“The Trump administration is paying El Salvador to keep (Kilmar Abrego Garcia) at CECOT,” Senator Chris Van Hollen revealed after meeting with Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa on Wednesday.

Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador in an effort to secure Abrego Garcia’s release, recounted that Ulloa made this assertion when pressed about why the Maryland resident remains detained in the country’s notorious high-security prison, despite having committed no crime and in defiance of a U.S. court order prohibiting his removal.

Van Hollen’s trip comes amid mounting controversy over Abrego Garcia’s deportation. The Maryland resident, a union sheet metal worker and father of three, was apprehended by ICE and deported to El Salvador in March, even though a federal judge had explicitly blocked his removal due to the risk of persecution by gangs in his home country.

The Trump administration later admitted the deportation was an “administrative error,” but has so far refused to comply with multiple court orders—including a unanimous Supreme Court directive—demanding Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.

Before departing for El Salvador, Van Hollen posted a video on social media emphasizing his determination to meet with Salvadoran officials and, if possible, with Abrego Garcia himself. 

Upon arrival, Van Hollen went directly to the U.S. embassy and later met with Vice President Ulloa. However, his requests to visit or even speak with Abrego Garcia—currently held at the CECOT mega-prison outside San Salvador—were denied.

Van Hollen also forcefully rejected the Trump administration’s repeated claims that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with MS-13 or has been charged with any crime, calling these allegations “lies.” Court records confirm that Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in either the U.S. or El Salvador, and his attorneys say the government has provided no evidence to support its accusations.

During his meeting with Van Hollen, Ulloa made it clear that El Salvador would not “smuggle” Abrego Garcia back into the United States. Ulloa referenced comments by President Nayib Bukele, who, when asked about returning Abrego Garcia during a White House visit earlier this week, dismissed the notion stating, “How can I return him to the United States? I smuggle him into the United States or what do I do? Of course, I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”

Van Hollen, addressing reporters outside the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, said, “I’m not asking him to smuggle Abrego Garcia into the United States. I’m simply asking him to open the door of CECOT and let this innocent man walk out.”

Van Hollen shared that Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that if El Salvador decided to return Abrego Garcia to the United States, the Trump administration would “arrange for a flight,” meaning they would provide a plane for his return. 

U.S. embassy officials in El Salvador told Van Hollen that the Trump administration has made no genuine effort to secure his release or repatriation.

At the same moment Bondi said that the administration would send a plane for Abrego Garcia, she repeatedly emphasized that there was “never a scenario in which he would remain in this country.”

Bondi has repeatedly asserted, despite court findings to the contrary, that Abrego Garcia has gang affiliations, and insisted that any return would be entirely at the discretion of the Salvadoran government.

Abrego Garcia, originally from El Salvador, fled gang violence and entered the U.S. as a teenager in 2011. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal” status, a rare protection similar to asylum, after finding a credible threat to his life if he returned to El Salvador. He had since lived legally in Maryland with his American wife and children, regularly checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Judge Paula Xinis, presiding over the case in the District of Maryland, has repeatedly admonished the Trump administration for failing to comply with court orders to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. After the Supreme Court unanimously found the deportation illegal and ordered the government to “facilitate” his release, Judge Xinis demanded evidence of the administration’s efforts and set an expedited schedule for depositions and document submissions.

She ordered officials from ICE, the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security to participate in depositions and provide documentation by the end of April, warning that contempt proceedings could follow if the government continued to defy her directives.