Sen. Chris Van Hollen says Abrego Garcia described being ‘traumatized’ at CECOT, has been moved to different detention center

Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Friday detailed his recent meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying the Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador described being “traumatized” by his time at the country’s notorious CECOT prison and has since been moved.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Friday detailed his recent meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying the Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador described being “traumatized” by his time at the country’s notorious CECOT prison and has since been moved. “He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways,” Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters at Dulles Airport near Washington, DC, after landing back in the US. The US senator said Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident, told him he had been moved from the maximum-security prison to another detention center nine days ago. The US lawmaker traveled to the Central American nation earlier this week in a push for the man’s release and met with him Thursday – after initially being denied access to the maximum-security prison. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, and his case has been at the center of the fight over the Trump administration’s hardline deportation push. Van Hollen said the case has broad significance for the due process rights of all Americans. “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,” he said. “If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America.”