Van Hollen Statement on Meeting with Kilmar Ábrego García

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement after meeting virtually this morning with Kilmar Ábrego García and his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura:

“I was glad to have the opportunity to speak with Kilmar Ábrego García this morning and welcome him back to Maryland after what has been a long and torturous nightmare. It was the first time I have talked to him since our meeting in El Salvador. During our conversation, I shared with him that I and many others have been fighting for months to ensure that his constitutional due process rights were respected despite Trump’s efforts to deny them at every turn. The federal courts and public outcry forced the Administration to bring Ábrego García back to Maryland, but Trump’s cronies continue to lie about the facts in his case and they are engaged in a malicious abuse of power as they threaten to deport him to Uganda – to block his chance to defend himself against the new charges they brought. As I told Kilmar and his wife Jennifer, we will stay in this fight for justice and due process because if his rights are denied, the rights of everyone else are put at risk.”