Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador months ago spurred Democrats to go all-in on defending him despite allegations that he is a member of the MS-13 gang and was involved with a multi-state human trafficking ring.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Abrego Garcia with human smuggling, while accusing him of domestic violence and abuse of women, and ordered that he be returned to the United States from a prison in El Salvador.
On Friday of last week, a judge released Abrego Garcia from federal custody on parole and today, ICE agents arrested him when he checked in with immigration officials. Officials with the Trump administration have said Abrego Garcia will be deported to Uganda.
Van Hollen, who infamously traveled to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia, met again with the accused MS-13 gang member and is demanding ICE release him from custody.
“I was glad to have the opportunity to speak with Kilmar Ábrego García this morning and welcome him back to Maryland after what has been a long and torturous nightmare,” Van Hollen said in a statement on Sunday:
It was the first time I have talked to him since our meeting in El Salvador. During our conversation, I shared with him that I and many others have been fighting for months to ensure that his constitutional due process rights were respected despite Trump’s efforts to deny them at every turn. The federal courts and public outcry forced the Administration to bring Ábrego García back to Maryland, but Trump’s cronies continue to lie about the facts in his case and they are engaged in a malicious abuse of power as they threaten to deport him to Uganda – to block his chance to defend himself against the new charges they brought. As I told Kilmar and his wife Jennifer, we will stay in this fight for justice and due process because if his rights are denied, the rights of everyone else are put at risk. [Emphasis added]
The allegations of human trafficking against Abrego Garcia stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where state troopers can be seen on bodycam footage pulling over Abrego Garcia, who was driving a vehicle that belonged to Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes.
Inside the vehicle were nine people, none of whom had luggage. Troopers suspected the people were illegal aliens being smuggled into the U.S. interior, but after speaking with federal agents they allowed Abrego Garcia to continue on his way.
Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon serving time in federal prison in Alabama, was charged in a 2020 7-count indictment for operating a human smuggling scheme that brought illegal aliens into the U.S. interior from the southern border.
FBI agents interviewed Hernandez-Reyes, who reportedly told them that he hired Abrego Garcia to help smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. interior.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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