Chris Van Hollen condemns āunjust situationā and says vice-president blocked access to wrongly deported man***
Marylandās Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen says the government of El Salvador has denied his request to visit Kilmar Ćbrego GarcĆa, his constituent who was wrongly deported to the Central American country last month.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday with the intention of meeting Ćbrego GarcĆa at the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), where US authorities have said that the Maryland resident is being held along with others deported at Donald Trumpās orders.
The senatorās visit came days after Trump and El Salvadorās president, Nayib Bukele, refused to take steps to return Ćbrego GarcĆa to the United States, even though the US supreme court last week said the administration must āfacilitateā his return.
US Senators generally get what they want with these types of things, especially when they visit in person. Theyāre direct representatives of the Legislative Branch of the US government, and have as much, if not more control than the Executive Branch (when they are actually doing their job).
Telling a Senator no, in person, generally isnāt something you do unless you donāt have another choice. Like if the person they want to talk to is actually dead but you have been saying theyāre alive.
I mean, I donāt totally disagree here, but Iām not sure what kind of clout thatās supposed to hold under team Trump.
Like, understanding this isnāt a perfect analogy, if I were working in an American prison holding a Russian prisoner and a Putin-aligned legislator wanted to see that prisoner I would take great pleasure in telling them to fuck off if I had that power.
The difference would be that presumably weād be holding that prisoner despite Russians wishes not because of them. We paid for them (are paying?) to hold this guy. Heās not their prisoner, heās ours. The whole situation is fucked but that analogy isnāt quite accurate.
I made it on the fly, but the point is that the clout goes away when 1) youāre not my senator, 2) youāre not a legislator in my country and 3) you go against everything I stand for - what kind of clout am I supposed to feel from someone like that?
It should be fairly normal to decline a random politician from another country a request no one else gets.
It reeks a bit of American exceptionalism that US senators should get special rights. If a random politician from, say, the Netherlands asked to see someone held in Guantanamo Bay the US will do fuck all to accommodate this request.
My comment is not a justification for the deportation of that guy by the way. I just donāt think it should be notable, as random politicians usually enjoy much, much fewer rights than head of states.
I canāt reason why you would make this comment, I have to assume no logic was used. How about the fact that ICE admitted that the man was deported in error, is that enough justification? Your comparison makes no sense because it assumes the man is being imprisoned for just cause. The Maryland man was a constituent of the Maryland senator.
Iām tired of the whataboutism bullshit rhetoric.
Guantanamo Bay doesnāt rely on any cause though? Itās literally a US torture camp where nothing matters. No due process, no just cause, no nothing. Itās worse than CECOT in everything but scale.
Have you ever seen any countryās opposition figure successfully demand something from another country? I personally havenāt. Usually the government alone controls any and all foreign relations.
Hell, Israel has literally detained and deported two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation - not just a visit. And theyāre part of the governing party, no less!
Itās genuinely not surprising that El Salvador reacts this way. Itās the literal default reaction to a nongovernmental politician demanding something.
And yes, I think itās appalling that the I US deports anyone and everyone, legally or otherwise. This doesnāt affect El Salvador though since they detain whoever the US sends there. The US argues this man is a terrorist, therefore this is sufficient justification for them.
Had Britain started deporting migrants to Rwanda and a MP from the Green Party requested to visit someone āmistakenlyā deported, they wouldāve been denied access as well.
I just really donāt think thereās anything noteworthy in the rejection alone.
I meanā¦ I donāt think itās exceptional for an American politician to want to see a prison setup for American detainees.