section_path: "Facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return/Sen. Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador and meeting with Abrego Garcia
section_name: Sen. Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador and meeting with Abrego Garcia
paragraph_text: Sen. Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador and meeting with Abrego Garcia
  
  In an April 13 letter to Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the US, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland requested a meeting with Bukele during his visit to the United States the next day, to discuss Abrego Garcia's return. The meeting did not occur, and on April 16, Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador from the United States with the intention of visiting Abrego Garcia in prison to assess his health and to meet with representatives of the Salvadoran government in an effort to obtain his release.
  
  At a press conference later that day, Van Hollen stated that he had met with El Salvador's vice president, Félix Ulloa, who told him that the senator had not given sufficient advance notice to arrange a visit with Abrego Garcia. When Van Hollen asked whether he could return the following week, or if either he or Abrego Garcia's wife could speak with him by phone, Ulloa suggested he direct those requests to the US Embassy. Van Hollen said that he asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at CECOT even though he had not been convicted of any crimes in either the US or El Salvador, and described Ulloa's response as "the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador to keep him at CECOT."
  
  On April 17, El Salvadoran officials brought Abrego Garcia to meet Van Hollen at his hotel. Abrego Garcia was provided with non-prison clothes and a cap to cover his head, which had been shaved by the prison. According to Van Hollen, Abrego Garcia told him during that meeting that he had been moved from CECOT to another facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador 8 days before, and that his experience at CECOT "traumatized" him. The DOJ later said that this facility is the Centro Industrial Penitentiary.
  
  Concerning the meeting, Bukele tweeted, "Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody." Trump accused Van Hollen of grandstanding, saying the senator "looked like a fool".
  
  Roger Stone accused Van Hollen of violating the Logan Act, "a 200-year-old law aimed at preventing people from undermining the government". However, Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University, noted that accusations of violations of the Logan Act are a "useful way for people to accuse each other of undermining US foreign policy" but is not a "meaningful law" that is "likely to ever be used", especially given that no one has ever been convicted under the law and the last prosecution happened in 1853.
  
  On April 29, Van Hollen sent a letter to Trump, detailing his meeting with Ulloa. Van Hollen stated that Ulloa had said "We have a deal with the U.S. government. They send people. We host them. They pay. And that's it." Van Hollen added that if Trump can defy a court order and strip Abrego Garcia of his rights, the same could happen with anyone else. Van Hollen later released a video of his discussion with Ulloa, confirming the quote in his letter to Trump. In the video, Ulloa also said that El Salvador had no evidence of Abrego Garcia being a criminal.
  
  In an April 13 letter to Milena Mayorga, the Salvadoran ambassador to the US, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland requested a meeting with Bukele during his visit to the United States the next day, to discuss Abrego Garcia's return. The meeting did not occur, and on April 16, Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador from the United States with the intention of visiting Abrego Garcia in prison to assess his health and to meet with representatives of the Salvadoran government in an effort to obtain his release.
  
  At a press conference later that day, Van Hollen stated that he had met with El Salvador's vice president, Félix Ulloa, who told him that the senator had not given sufficient advance notice to arrange a visit with Abrego Garcia. When Van Hollen asked whether he could return the following week, or if either he or Abrego Garcia's wife could speak with him by phone, Ulloa suggested he direct those requests to the US Embassy. Van Hollen said that he asked why Abrego Garcia was being held at CECOT even though he had not been convicted of any crimes in either the US or El Salvador, and described Ulloa's response as "the Trump administration is paying El Salvador, the government of El Salvador to keep him at CECOT."
  
  On April 17, El Salvadoran officials brought Abrego Garcia to meet Van Hollen at his hotel. Abrego Garcia was provided with non-prison clothes and a cap to cover his head, which had been shaved by the prison. According to Van Hollen, Abrego Garcia told him during that meeting that he had been moved from CECOT to another facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador 8 days before, and that his experience at CECOT "traumatized" him. The DOJ later said that this facility is the Centro Industrial Penitentiary.
  
  Concerning the meeting, Bukele tweeted, "Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody." Trump accused Van Hollen of grandstanding, saying the senator "looked like a fool".
  
  Roger Stone accused Van Hollen of violating the Logan Act, "a 200-year-old law aimed at preventing people from undermining the government". However, Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University, noted that accusations of violations of the Logan Act are a "useful way for people to accuse each other of undermining US foreign policy" but is not a "meaningful law" that is "likely to ever be used", especially given that no one has ever been convicted under the law and the last prosecution happened in 1853.
  
  On April 29, Van Hollen sent a letter to Trump, detailing his meeting with Ulloa. Van Hollen stated that Ulloa had said "We have a deal with the U.S. government. They send people. We host them. They pay. And that's it." Van Hollen added that if Trump can defy a court order and strip Abrego Garcia of his rights, the same could happen with anyone else. Van Hollen later released a video of his discussion with Ulloa, confirming the quote in his letter to Trump. In the video, Ulloa also said that El Salvador had no evidence of Abrego Garcia being a criminal.