Senator Van Hollen Comes Under Fire For Visit To El Salvador

Critics claim he violated the Logan Act; Rep. McClain Delaney disagrees.Sixth District  Representative April McClain DelaneyFrederick, Md (KM) Senator Chris Van Hollen has come under fire from some citizens over his trip to EL Salvador earlier this month to meet Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia. They claim Van Hollen violated the Logan Act which prohibits US citizens form engaging in unauthorized diplomacy with foreign governments. “I don’t believe he violated the Logan Act,” says 6th District Representative April McClain Delaney.McClain Delaney says Van Hollen’s trip was mostly to highlight how immigration agents did not follow process when it comes to the deportations of individuals who should not be in the US. “He cares about what happens and how ICE {Immigration and Customs Enforcement} and other entities. follow process  and legal practice they’re conducting these immigration raids,” she says.Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia, but he didn’t bring him back to the US. “I’m not sure that he thought he was going to walk out with Mr. Garcia,” says McClain Delaney. “I think  what he was there to do was to highlight the process, and highlight that we should follow the courts.”Years earlier, a judge granted Abrego Garcia protection from being deported to his native El Salvador due to concerns about his safety if he returned there. After Abrego Garcia and other persons were deported to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, the US Supreme Court ruled that the administration must facilitate his return to the US.The Trump Administration says it made “an administrative error” in deporting Abrego Garcia, but says it cannot bring  him back to the US.But there was another reason for Van Hollen’s trip. “I think also for his family to check on him that he was still healthy and that he was alive and okay,”:: says McClain Delaney.The Trump Administration says Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS 13 gang. His attorneys and his family say he is not.By Kevin McManus