Van Hollen Details His Meeting With ‘Illegally Abducted’ Migrant Abrego Garcia: This Is ‘Not Just About One Man!’
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke to reporters on Friday after returning from El Salvador, where he was able to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia – the migrant the Trump administration acknowledged it deported and imprisoned by “error.”
“It’s good to be home. Now we need to end the illegal abduction of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and bring him home, too,” Van Hollen said to applause.
“We’re joined by his wife, Jennifer, by his mother, Cecilia, by his brother, Cesar, and thank all of the rest of you who are joining us in solidarity with the Constitution and Kilmar,” continued the Maryland Democrat, adding:
Look, I’m a little sleep deprived, and I want to be as clear as possible about what this is about and what it isn’t about. So I’m going to read the remarks that I wrote on the plane ride home. As the federal courts have said, we need to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia home to protect his constitutional rights to due process. 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 right of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America.
The Fourth Circuit put it very clearly in its strong opinion yesterday. And I quote. It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government, in this case the Trump administration, is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is 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. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from the courthouses still feel.
Van Hollen went on to discuss his conversation with Abrego Garcia about his conditions in prison and his desire to talk to his wife and kids.
Watch the clip above via C-SPAN
