Democrat Chris Van Hollen says El Salvador refused his request to visit Kilmar Ábrego García; judge finds probable cause to hold Trump officials in contempt – key US politics stories from Wednesday 16 April at a glance
A Democratic senator who says El Salvador’s government refused to allow him to visit his constituent wrongly deported to the country has condemned an “unjust situation”. Chris Van Hollen said its vice-president told him it would not be possible for him to speak with Kilmar Ábrego García in person or on the phone
The senator’s visit came as Democrats have seized on the deportation and the Trump administration’s refusal to take any steps to return him, in apparent defiance of the supreme court, to argue that the president is plunging the US into a constitutional crisis.