'I Should Have The Opportunity To Visit With My Constituent': Glenn Ivey Calls To Meet With Kilmar Abrego Garcia

At a press briefing in San Salvador, El Salvador, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) called for the ability to meet with the imprisoned Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Transcript

00:00Thank you for coming today. My name is Glenn Ivey. I'm the congressman from Maryland.

00:11I represent the district that Kilmar is from, and I came down here again. I was here in El

00:17Salvador two years ago, but I came this time to visit with Kilmar, and I was deeply disappointed

00:24and frankly angry that we were not allowed to get in to see him. We had reached out. I'd

00:29have a meeting with the ambassador from El Salvador to the United States. We met last

00:35week, and I told them we were coming and we wanted to meet with Kilmar, so they were aware

00:39of that. We also had direct communications with other members of the government, so they

00:43knew we were coming. And we talked with our ambassador, who also reached out to the government

00:49here. So the fact that they didn't let us in, in fact, they told us at the gate that we

00:53had to go back to San Salvador to get a permit, which is ridiculous. You know, this is an

00:58international visit. I'm a member of Congress. I should have the opportunity to visit with

01:06my constituent. And the United States has a contract with El Salvador. Apparently, we haven't

01:12been allowed to see that yet. But the United States has a contract with El Salvador, and

01:17the money that comes from that has to be authorized by Congress, because we have the power of the

01:22purse. So I had an oversight opportunity here that was not permitted, and I think that was

01:27a big mistake on the part of the El Salvadoran government. But the bigger issue is the Trump

01:32administration, because I know that President Trump could pick up the phone, make a call

01:37to El Salvador, and have Kilmar released and sent back to the United States. If he made the

01:41call, he'd be back within hours. So the Trump administration has been dragging its feet. You

01:48know, the Supreme Court of the United States told them to facilitate Kilmar's return. They have

01:53not done that, which I think is a clear violation of the Constitution. And it's important for

01:58us in Congress to support the judges in the United States who are making these rulings and

02:03to continue pressuring the Trump administration to comply with the law.

02:07So I was very happy to have some assistance when we came down. We came down as a group.

02:15And Abel is one of the people – actually, he brought me here two years ago and helped me

02:20understand the lay of the land, and he came back with us again today. So I wanted to give

02:24him a chance to speak as well. So we'll slide over a little bit so you can get the direct

02:28mic.