Baltimore, MD — Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey expressed disappointment after returning from El Salvador without being able to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was wrongly deported from the U.S. in March.

Abrego Garcia remains in custody in a Salvadoran facility despite ICE admitting his deportation was due to an administrative error and despite federal and Supreme Court orders for the Trump administration to facilitate his return.

Rep. Ivey traveled to El Salvador on Friday, May 23. Before making the trip, Ivey said he made a formal request with the Salvadoran ambassador to see Abrego Garcia and confirmed with the Salvadoran government through the U.S. ambassador.

Despite his planning, Ivey said when he arrived at a prison in Santa Ana to see Abrego Garcia, he was denied access and told to go back to San Salvador to get a permit.

"They knew why we were coming, and they know we have the right to do this," Ivey said in a social media video. "So, they need to just cut the crap. Let us get in there and have a chance to see him and talk with him."

After returning to the U.S. on Tuesday, May 27, Ivey told WJZ that he was not given a reason for being denied a meeting.

After Abrego Garcia was deported, his wife filed suit in Maryland asking that the US government return him to the US. The district court judge ordered the government to "facilitate and effectuate" his return.

The government appealed, and on April 10, 2025, the Supreme Court stated unanimously that the government must "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to the US.

The administration interpreted "facilitate" to mean it was not obligated to seek his release, and it was up to El Salvador whether to release him.

On July 23, the Maryland and Tennessee courts simultaneously ordered that he be released from prison and prohibited his immediate deportation after release.

"There's no real good reason for it," Ivey said. "They routinely let in Republican members of Congress, media outlets that they think are sympathetic."

Ivey said one of the goals of his trip was to check on the conditions at the lower-security facility that Abrego Garcia was moved to after he was initially held at CECOT, a notorious supermax prison.

Ivey also said he wanted to see how American taxpayer dollars were being used to house deportees in El Salvador.

"As a member of Congress, you know, we have collectively the power of the purse," Ivey said. "We have oversight obligations and responsibilities. We're supposed to go look at things like how American tax dollars are being spent."

Abrego Garcia's attorney and a member of a Maryland-based workers' union joined Ivey for the trip.

"It was, I thought, you know, beyond disappointing that they wouldn't allow an international delegation from Congress to go in and visit," Ivey told WJZ.

Abrego Garcia was among nearly 230 men who were put on a flight and deported from the U.S. to a Salvadoran prison in March.

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The Trump administration claimed they were all terrorists and gang members, and used a World War II-era law to send them to El Salvador.

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Abrego Garcia's lawyers and family have repeatedly denied claims that he is affiliated with a gang, citing his clean criminal record.

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According to Rep. Ivey and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who met with Abrego Garcia in March, the Salvadoran government is being paid by the U.S. to keep the deportees as prisoners.

Edited by Debra Young, Michael Henry, Carmen Pancoast

Caitlin Yilek, Joe Walsh, Lilia Luciano, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.