Chris Van Hollen: 'We Need To End The Illegal Abduction Of Kilmar Abrego Garcia And Bring Him Home'

At a press briefing on Friday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about his visit with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Transcript

00:00It's good to be home.

00:07Now we need to end the illegal

00:09abduction of Kilmar Orbego Garcia

00:14and bring him home, too.

00:19It's good to be home.

00:21Now we need to end the illegal

00:23abduction of Kilmar Orbego

00:26Garcia and bring him home, too.

00:30We're joined by his wife, Jennifer, by his mother, Cecilia, by his brother, Cesar, and

00:43thank all of the rest of you who are joining us in solidarity with the Constitution and

00:49Kilmock.

00:50Look, I'm a little sleep deprived, and I want to be as clear as possible about what

00:58this is about and what it's not about.

01:02So I'm going to read the remarks that I wrote on the plane ride home.

01:09As the federal courts have said, we need to bring Mr. Abrego Garcia home to protect his

01:16constitutional rights to due process.

01:21And it's also important that people understand this case is not just about one man.

01:28It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States.

01:34If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights

01:45and due process for everyone else in America.

01:48The Fourth Circuit put it very clearly in its strong opinion yesterday.

01:55And I quote, it is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter.

02:02But in this case, it is not hard at all.

02:07The government, in this case the Trump administration, is asserting a right to stash away residents

02:13of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation

02:20of our constitutional order.

02:22Further, it claims, in essence, that because it has rid itself of custody, that there is

02:30nothing that can be done.

02:32This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans

02:39far removed from the courthouses still hold dear.

02:44They summed up the issue at stake perfectly.

02:49And that's why the Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, ordered the Trump administration to facilitate

02:56the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia.