Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) held a press briefing on Thursday after attempting to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Thank all of you for joining us.
00:03I'm going to make a few opening statements, and then I look forward to some questions
00:09from all of you.
00:12I think we better wait for the interpreter's microphone to work.
00:28As you know, the Trump administration has admitted in a federal court in the United States
00:43that they had erroneously abducted Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
00:50They said it was an administrative error that they illegally abducted him from Maryland
01:09and sent him to the notorious Seacott prison here in El Salvador.
01:16Dijeron que habÃa sido un error notorio el haberlo raptado de Maryland y haberlo traÃdo a la prisión
01:24notoria de El Salvador, denominada Seacott.
01:31And they had to fix the problem and fix the problem that they told the judge they had committed
01:38and bring him back to Maryland and to those court proceedings.
01:44Instead, they berated the Trump administration lawyer who told the truth to the judge and
01:50to the court.
01:57And...
01:59then the Supreme Court
02:26then the supreme court of the united states by a vote of nine to zero said that the trump
02:33administration had to facilitate mr abrigo garcia's return to the united states
02:56and so that's why yesterday when i met with the vice president of el salvador
03:13i asked him not to be complicit in the trump administration's law breaking in the united
03:21states of america yo le pedia el que no fuera complaciente con lo que estaba sucediendo en
03:28los estados unidos en que estaban rompiendo con la ley en este caso and to release mr abrigo garcia
03:39and as i reported to you yesterday the vice president said he would not agree to his release
03:47at this time so i asked that in the interest of mercy at least allow his wife or his mother or his
04:09lawyer to contact him in prison to check on his well-being and the vice president was not willing to
04:34agree to that request so today i tried again to make contact with mr abrigo garcia
04:52by driving to the secot prison i was accompanied by chris newman who is the lawyer for mr abrigo garcia's
05:11wife and mother
05:12brother our goal was very simple today which was to check on the health and well-being of gilmar
05:30our goal was very simple our goal was to check on the health and well-being of gilmar
05:38but we were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about three kilometers from the secot prison
05:46but we were told by the soldiers that they've been ordered not to allow us to proceed
06:00any further than that point
06:08i should point out that since mr abrigo garcia was illegally abducted and sent to secot he has had
06:18no communication with anybody on the outside
06:35his wife and his lawyers have tried to make contact with them
06:41they've not been able to
06:48his mother wants to make contact with them she's not been able to
06:58and i of course tried to make contact with him because he resides in the state of maryland and that is
07:06where his wife and mother and brother also reside
07:11so there's been no ability no ability to find out anything about his health and well-being
07:31uh the u.s embassy here has not been asked by the trump administration to inquire about his health
07:47health and well-being
07:58and i should point out that this inability to communicate with his lawyers is a violation of
08:07international law
08:18el salvador is a party to the international international covenant on civil and political
08:26rights
08:34el salvador has signed and ratified that covenant
08:37el salvador ha firmado y ratificado ese convenio
08:41and that covenant says and i quote a detained or imprisoned person
08:51shall be entitled to communicate and consult with his legal counsel unquote
08:58y tengo que decirles lo que dice y cito lo que dice el convenio que una persona que es detenida o
09:06arrestada tiene todo el derecho de comunicarse o de hacer consultas i should say also on this trip i met with
09:16some representatives of human rights and civil society groups
09:20en esta viaje también yo me reunà con algunos representantes de la sociedad civil y de derechos humanos
09:28who express concerns about many things including the inability to
09:35communicate with prisoners in secot
09:41que me comunicaron a mà muchas de sus preocupaciones debido a la incapacidad de poderse comunicar con cualquiera que esté en secot
09:50i also met with the terrific american embassy team here in el salvador during my visit
10:05and we discussed the full range of important bilateral relations between
10:11the united states and el salvador
10:20and i can tell you the people of the united states want to have very good and strong relationships with
10:25the people of el salvador
10:34in my state of maryland we have a very vibrant and successful salvadorian community
10:40and they contribute greatly to our state
10:56and so we'd like to see more economic relationships stronger economic relationships
11:03and investment in el salvador from the united states
11:15i also met with embassy representatives from the fbi from the dea and dhs
11:24and we have a long time common goal between the united states and el salvador to crack down on
11:42transnational gangs like ms 13
11:55i have been fighting against ms 13 for probably longer than donald trump even heard about ms 13
12:05and they're trying to make this case about
12:20kilmar all about ms 13
12:24when in fact the judge in the case has said they've not provided
12:32substantial or any significant evidence to back up their claim
12:36i am here not to vouch for any particular set of facts or for claims but i am here to vouch for the
12:59the judicial system in the united states which guarantees individuals the right to do process
13:09and that is the difference between being illegally detained and abducted like kilmar obrego garcia
13:20and the right to have your day in court and present the facts everybody gets to present the facts
13:26facts to a judge and the judge has looked at those facts and so far concluded that mr abrigo garcia
13:36was illegally abducted and taken out of the country and now sits illegally in secot prison in el salvador
13:47and we need to make sure that the court system works and due process works because if you take
13:53it away for any individual it's a very short road to taking it away for every american
14:01so that you do not have to suffer from the fact that you don't have to be here again for the facts about
14:10and others does not have to be accused about the lawsuit so that you want to be accused of
14:17in the who we need to abort for justice and the him the innovative process because it is the fact that
14:21it is legal and kept on this man is carried away and brought to the unedict which was
14:29Those are the facts that we have. And he has the right to sit in front of a judge and that he has the right to do a due process.
14:37But that's why I tell you that he was arrested illegally and brought here to the SECOC.
14:44And that he has the right to do a due process.
14:47Because if this doesn't work for him, it will not work for any member of the American society.
14:56And with that, I'm ready to take any questions you may have.
15:26Is he supposed to return to Salvador in a short time because he couldn't see it?
15:33Yes.
15:34I'm not going to be able to reach your goal. Are you coming back?
15:48So I do intend to keep at this until we ensure that Mr. Obregar Garcia has his rights to due process, which is what the courts of the United States have called for.
16:05They have said that his abduction is illegal and they have called upon him to be brought back to the United States.
16:14So I will keep at this, but I can assure you that while I may be the first senator and first member of the United States Congress to come here to El Salvador in this case,
16:43I certainly will not be the last. There'll be many more coming.
16:50Because we won't give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected.
16:55Because we won't give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected.
17:02Because we won't give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected.
17:09Because we won't give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected.
17:12Because we won't give up until Kilmar has his due process.
17:19The next question.
17:22Senator, good afternoon. Fernando Morales, of Canal 12.
17:25I have a question.
17:26What impact would this case have in the bilateral cooperation between both countries,
17:33such as migration, fighting against organized crime, or economic assistance,
17:38and what diplomatic actions or legislative actions could be taken against El Salvador
17:43if they continue ignoring the United States justice justice?
17:48Well, as I said in my opening statement, I think the people of the United States want to have a very good relationship with the people of El Salvador.
17:57And that includes expanding our economic relationship.
18:03But I will say that if the government of El Salvador remains complicit in the illegal detention of Mr. Agrego Garcia in Cicat prison,
18:21then there will be, I think, actions proposed, certainly, to take until we resolve this very important issue.
18:32So I have to say that the people of the United States want to have good relations with the country of El Salvador.
18:42But while the government of El Salvador remains complacent in his way of thinking,
18:49in his way of thinking right now, in the detention illegal and the rapto of Mr. Agrego Garcia,
18:57because the American taxpayers' dollars should not be used in a way that violates the court orders of the United States.
19:20Porque el dinero que los contribuyentes han dado en los Estados Unidos no pueden utilizarse en violación de las órdenes de las cortes de los Estados Unidos.
19:30Siguiente pregunta.
19:32Okay.
19:33Buenas tardes, senador.
19:34Le saludo a Tatiana Arevalo de El Noticiero Canal 6.
19:35Tatiana Arevalo de El Noticiero Canal 6.
19:36Tatiana Arevalo de El Noticiero Canal 6.
19:37Sobre la visita que usted querÃa realizar este dÃa al SECOT, ¿la embajada le ayudó en algún momento a gestionar esa visita?
19:46¿O también solicitó esa visita a casa presidencial directamente y no fue concedida la entrada?
19:58So two steps were taken.
20:01Number one, the United States Embassy did communicate to the government of El Salvador my request to visit SECOT and to meet with Kilmar Obrego Garcia.
20:15So they relayed my request to the government of El Salvador.
20:20And then yesterday, when I met with the Vice President, I asked again about exactly that, about the chance to go see Kilmar Obrego Garcia.
20:32And again, I emphasized that my goal in visiting with them was to check on his health and his well-being.
20:40So I have had two steps.
20:43First, through the American Embassy, I asked to see my wish to visit and see how the health and the health of Mr. Abrego Garcia.
20:55And the day of yesterday, when I took the interview with the Vice President of the Republic, I also asked to see that I wanted to see Mr. Abrego Garcia.
21:05I can take maybe two more questions.
21:18I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Abrego Garcia.
21:47Sure. Well, let me start with a second. I'm not surprised that President Trump and the White House are unhappy with my visit to El Salvador because it is shining a spotlight on the fact that the Trump administration is ignoring a court order from the federal district court in Maryland and a nine to nothing order from the Supreme Court to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia.
22:16So I understand that they're not happy because they would prefer to continue to violate that court order in terms of. I'm sorry. What was the first part of your question? Oh, the other delegations? Yes. So let me let you see that line.
22:36All right. No me sorprende nada que la administración del señor Trump esté, no está muy contenta con mi visita porque esto está como destacando lo que están haciendo, que están ignorando las órdenes de una corte federal que ya habÃa decidido con un puntaje de nueve a cero, que tenÃan que facilitar el regreso del señor Abrego GarcÃa a Maryland.
23:03Asà que no me sorprende que no estén contentos y que van a continuar con esto.
23:10As to other delegations, I know there are other Democratic delegations in the works now.
23:19Yo sé que en cuanto a las demás delegaciones, sé que algunas delegaciones del Partido Demócrata ya están hablando.
23:28I would welcome Republican delegations that also want to stand up for due process in the United States of America.
23:40Y yo darÃa la bienvenida a cualquier delegación republicana que estuviera a favor del debido proceso en los Estados Unidos.
23:47Yo sé que hubo un grupo de congresistas republicanos que sà visitaron el CICOT hace unos dÃas.
24:05Y fueron autorizados a hacerlo.
24:10Pero sé que no era parte de su misión tener una entrevista con el señor Kilmar Abrego GarcÃa y por lo tanto no pidieron verlo, no lo vieron.
24:31Can we take one more?
24:38There are no more questions.
24:39Thank you all very much for joining us.
24:41MuchÃsimas gracias a todos por haberse unido a nosotros.