That I understand, what doesn't make sense is the clearance "at or above 2,000'" when the plane was in an area where the MIA was 4,000 or 5,000.
From the NTSB preliminary:
The ARTCC specialist on duty subsequently granted the request by issuing the clearance, with instructions to proceed direct to the Initial Approach Fix (IAF) to begin the approach, and to maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet or above. A short time later the flight crew requested to enter a holding pattern at the IAF so that they could contact the Flight Service Station (FSS) for a runway conditions report,