Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Sunday the White House is seeking to distract from the most pressing points in the saga around its unlawful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — an unprecedented denial of his constitutional rights and the flouting of an order from the nation’s top court.

“We have a lawless president who is ignoring the order of the Supreme Court of the United States to facilitate his return,” Van Hollen, fresh off a midweek trip to El Salvador in which he succeeded in meeting the Maryland resident, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” one of a series of Sunday morning TV appearances.

“That’s what’s going on right now. That is a risk to all of us. And so all of this other stuff, you can ask about it, but they need to put up or shut up in the courts of the United States.”

Fixating on Abrego Garcia’s past, and what he might or might not have done, Van Hollen told Bash, misses the bigger point.

“He’s being denied his due process rights,” Van Hollen told Bash. “And Donald Trump is trying to change the subject. And, you know, when people start asking about asking that question, in my view, they’re falling into the president’s trap.”

Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. around 2011, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March despite an immigration court order mandating he not be brought back to his country of origin due to fears he could be persecuted by a local gang.

But even after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the White House must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, President Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly signaled no intention of doing so. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, is working alongside Trump in the effort; both claim they have no power to send Abrego Garcia home.

Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador drew focus not only on this one specific case but also the broader issue of deporting people without following all the usual legal procedures.

“They are very much flouting the courts as we speak,” Van Hollen told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “As the courts have said, facilitating his return means something more than doing nothing. And they are doing nothing.”

White House officials have focused on drawing attention to Abrego Garcia’s purported links to the MS-13 gang. But U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis, who ordered his return, said the Justice Department has not provided evidence connecting Abrego Garcia to the group.

“They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc,” Trump claimed on Truth Social last week. “I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Van Hollen was on the second day of his trip to El Salvador when he finally succeeded in meeting Abrego Garcia at a hotel last Thursday. El Salvadorian officials “tried to make it look like he was in paradise,” Van Hollen told host Jonathan Karl on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

The El Salvadorian authorities attempted to set up the pair’s conversation in a spot overlooking the hotel pool, Van Hollen said. At one point, waiters set what appeared to be margaritas on the table.

“It just goes to show the lengths that Bukele and Trump will go to try to deceive people about what this case is all about,” Van Hollen told Karl. “What this case is all about is simply complying with the Supreme Court order to facilitate his return and make sure he gets due process.”

GOP Sen. John N. Kennedy (La.) admitted to Welker on Sunday that Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador was a “screw-up.” But he doesn’t see it as a brewing constitutional crisis.

Taking their cues from the White House, Republicans have slammed Van Hollen’s visit, saying the Democratic Party is more interested in defending deported illegal immigrants than advocating for law-abiding Americans. Kennedy said he thought Van Hollen, whom he called a friend, was “utterly and gloriously wrong.”

“The Democrats say, ‘Look, you know, we told you, Trump is a threat to democracy. This is going to happen every other Thursday afternoon.’ I don’t see any pattern here,” Kennedy said. “I mean, you know, some day pigs may fly, but I doubt it.”