A Maryland father who was wrongly deported to El Salvador and held in one of its most violent prisons described the experience as traumatic during a meeting with U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal U.S. resident, met with Van Hollen in San Salvador and shared that he had recently been transferred from El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to a different facility with improved conditions. Garcia said his time at CECOT left him deeply shaken, especially after being mocked by other inmates.
“He felt incredibly distressed being imprisoned, especially knowing he hadn’t committed any crimes,” Van Hollen said during a press conference after returning to the U.S. Garcia’s meeting with the senator on April 17 marked his first public appearance since U.S. immigration authorities detained and deported him in March, despite a judge’s order barring his removal.
Concerns over Garcia’s safety had been growing, with his family, attorneys, and supporters urging action. A judge had even directed the Justice Department to provide daily updates on his location. Although U.S. officials claimed Garcia was still at CECOT as of April 12, he had already been relocated to a facility in Santa Ana, according to Garcia.
Van Hollen, who visited El Salvador to press for Garcia’s release, initially faced delays but was eventually allowed to meet him in a hotel. Garcia recounted being denied a chance to call loved ones after his arrest and being transferred—shackled—from Baltimore to a Texas detention center, and then flown out of the country without knowing his destination.
At CECOT, Garcia was crammed into a cell with 25 others and felt threatened by prisoners in nearby cell blocks who harassed him. Van Hollen said Garcia expressed how much he missed his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and his family, and said their memory kept him going through the ordeal.
Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran who had lived in the U.S. for over a decade, was deported during the Trump administration, despite an immigration judge ruling against his removal. His family has since filed a lawsuit demanding his return.
While U.S. government lawyers have admitted the deportation was an error, they claim they cannot intervene since he is now imprisoned abroad.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has refused to release Garcia, telling former President Donald Trump that Garcia would not be returned. U.S. authorities accuse Garcia of MS-13 gang ties based on a confidential source and a past incident involving his clothing—evidence that Judge Paula Xinis has called questionable and unsupported.
Following the meeting, Bukele mocked the senator in a social media post, sharing photos of their encounter and joking that Garcia had gone from “death camps” to “sipping margaritas.” Van Hollen clarified that neither he nor Garcia drank the beverages and said the glasses were placed before them by a Bukele aide as a publicity stunt.
