A US senator has met with a man who Trump administration officials have acknowledged was deported in error from Maryland to a mega-prison in El Salvador.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen posted photos of his meeting with Kilmar Ábrego García, whom the administration has refused to return to the US despite an order from a federal judge.
After the meeting, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele also refused to release Mr Ábrego García and said he would remain in the country’s custody.
The White House has accused Mr Ábrego García of being a member of the transnational Salvadoran gang MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organisation, which his lawyer denies.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” the Democratic senator posted on social media.
“I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”
The senator said he was stopped earlier in the day by armed guards on his way to Cecot, the maximum-security prison where Mr Ábrego García has been detained.
El Salvador’s president reposted the photos on X of the senator meeting Mr Ábrego García and appeared to mock the concern over the inmate’s wellbeing.
President Bukele commented that Mr Ábrego García had “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture'” in the “tropical paradise of El Salvador”.
“Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody,” the president added.