Shocking prison scandal explained.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen has made a disturbing claim about a U.S. citizen trapped in a brutal prison abroad.
Prisoner’s situation detailed.
Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a husband and father from Maryland, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.
His destination? CECOT — the so-called “world’s worst prison,” known for housing alleged gang members under extreme conditions.
But according to multiple U.S. court rulings, García isn’t a criminal and has no known gang affiliations.
The deportation was labeled an “administrative error” by the Trump administration — a stunning misstep with grave consequences.
Despite the Supreme Court ordering García’s return, the man remains locked up in El Salvador.
Context of García’s imprisonment revealed.
This all dates back to Trump’s sweeping deportation policy enacted after he became the 47th president.
Using a wartime statute last invoked during WWII, Trump ordered mass deportations of suspected gang members.
Over 250 people have since been sent to CECOT — many without evidence or trial.
García, however, wasn’t even on the list. He was deported entirely by mistake.
The court ruled he was “illegally taken from the United States” with zero criminal record to back it up.
And yet, his name still sits on a cell registry inside one of the most feared prisons on Earth.
Struggle for justice highlighted.
Senator Van Hollen has since attempted to intervene directly in the case, traveling to El Salvador to speak with officials.
There, he says, he was denied both a visit with García and even a phone call — audio or video.
“I just wanted to speak to the man,” Van Hollen said. “They refused every form of communication.”
He confronted El Salvador’s Vice President Félix Ulloa, asking for justification for García’s continued imprisonment.
Van Hollen says Ulloa offered no evidence of any wrongdoing by García, only vague answers.
“The U.S. courts cleared him. El Salvador had no proof either,” Van Hollen recounted.
So why, then, is the man still inside a prison with a global human rights outcry surrounding it?
CECOT, built by El Salvador’s President Bukele, has faced global condemnation for alleged torture and indefinite detention.
Human rights groups have described the prison as a dystopian fortress designed for propaganda, not justice.
Now, a new layer of controversy emerges: a U.S. citizen being used as diplomatic leverage — or worse, a pawn.
Shocking tie between Trump and prisoner clarified.
That’s when Van Hollen claims Ulloa dropped a bombshell: Trump’s administration is paying to keep García detained.
“He said the Trump administration is literally funding the El Salvador government to hold him at CECOT,” Van Hollen revealed.
Van Hollen pushed back, questioning how any administration could justify ignoring both domestic and international law.
He reminded officials that the U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, already agreed to send a plane for García’s return.
“We’re not asking to sneak him out,” he said. “Just open the door and let him go.”
Despite that, Van Hollen claims the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador said it’s received no instructions from the White House.
Which means there’s no effort — official or unofficial — to secure the man’s release.
The wait continues.
“This is a violation of American court orders,” Van Hollen stated, calling out the Trump administration directly.
“But the bigger question remains — why is El Salvador still holding a man they admit has done nothing wrong?”
For now, Kilmar Ábrego García is still trapped inside CECOT, waiting — while two governments pass the buck.