Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) delivered a speech at Dulles International Airport on Friday, detailing his experience traveling to El Salvador to track down the wrongfully deported Maryland family man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom he finally managed to get into contact with on Thursday evening after days of getting the run-around from government officials.
"We need to end the illegal abduction of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and bring him home," said Van Hollen, who has previously accused the Trump administration of misinformation on the case.
"As the federal courts have said, we need to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia home to protect his constitutional rights to due process," said Van Hollen. "And it's also important that people understand this case is not just about one man. It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America. If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America."
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Trump's officials, Van Hollen continued, are "asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process — despite that right being "the foundation of our constitutional order."
"Further, it claims, in essence, that because it has rid itself of custody, that there is nothing that can be done," said Van Hollen. "This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from the courthouses still hold dear. They summed up the issue at stake perfectly. And that's why the Supreme Court, in a nine-to-nothing decision, ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia."
"Now, the Trump administration wants to flat-out lie about what this case is about," he added. "They want to change the subject. They want to make it about something else, and they are flouting the orders from the federal district court, the Fourth Circuit court and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return. That's why I traveled to El Salvador, leaving here on Wednesday. And I want to express my gratitude to members of my family and members of my staff who agree that we all must be prepared to take risks because of the current risk to our Constitution."
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