Sen. Chris Van Hollen says America is in a ‘constitutional crisis’ as Trump disregards court orders in the Abrego Garcia case

Sen. Chris Van Hollen accused President Donald Trump of sending the U.S. into a constitutional crisis over disregarding court orders in the Abrego Garcia case

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on Sunday accused President Donald Trump of sending the U.S. into a constitutional crisis, saying members of the Trump administration “are very much flouting the courts as we speak.”

Asked directly on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether the U.S. is currently in a constitutional crisis, Van Hollen said, “Yes, we are.”

The senator’s remarks come days after he returned from a trip to El Salvador where he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump administration admitted was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.

Abrego Garcia has become the center of a weekslong legal and political battle, with the government multiple times contending in court that Abrego Garcia is now in the custody of El Salvador and there’s nothing it can do to bring him back.

That is the argument members of the Trump administration are making in court filings and in public statements, also alleging that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have insisted that he was never convicted of any crimes.