Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador this week to advocate for his constituent Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whose illegal deportation has triggered public outcry and an escalating legal battle in the United States.
However, Van Hollen reported that El Salvador’s government declined his requests to meet with Abrego Garcia and to facilitate his return to the U.S.
Abrego Garcia, 29, is a Salvadoran citizen who lived and worked legally in Maryland for approximately 15 years before he was wrongfully deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador last month.
This deportation occurred despite a judge granting him protections years earlier due to concerns regarding his safety if he were to return to El Salvador.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration must take steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., an order that, as of now, has been ignored.
At a White House meeting on Monday, El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, dismissed the idea of returning Abrego Garcia, labeling the suggestion as “preposterous.”
This situation has driven Van Hollen to personally campaign for Abrego Garcia, who is currently detained at a mega-prison known as CECOT.
“The goal of this mission is to let the Trump administration and the government of El Salvador know that we will continue to fight for Abrego Garcia’s return until he is reunited with his family,” Van Hollen said at the airport.
“We are going to keep fighting because this is a miscarriage of justice.”
The U.S. government has accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the transnational criminal gang MS-13, which the Trump administration designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
However, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers dispute his alleged gang affiliation, asserting that he does not have a criminal record.
After holding a meeting with El Salvador’s Vice President, Félix Ulloa, Van Hollen reported that the Salvadoran government lacks evidence linking Abrego Garcia to any gang activity.
Ulloa informed Van Hollen that Abrego Garcia remains in custody partly because “the Trump administration is paying the government of El Salvador to keep him at CECOT.”
Despite his desire to meet Abrego Garcia in person and update his family, Van Hollen was informed by Ulloa that he would have needed to make prior arrangements to visit the facility.
“I said, ‘I am not interested in this moment in taking a tour of CECOT. I just want to meet with Mr. Abrego Garcia,'” Van Hollen recounted.
Ulloa indicated that he could not guarantee a meeting even if Van Hollen returned the following week.
Furthermore, Van Hollen stated that Ulloa could not arrange a phone or video call with Abrego Garcia, although he suggested that the American embassy might be able to help.
Van Hollen plans to reach out to the embassy in his ongoing efforts to secure Abrego Garcia’s release.
“I can assure the president and vice president that while I may be the first U.S. senator to visit El Salvador on this issue, I won’t be the last. More members of Congress will come,” Van Hollen pledged.
The White House has criticized Van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador.
On the same day that Van Hollen sought Abrego Garcia’s return, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated the administration’s stance against him.
“If he ever ends up back in the United States, he would immediately be deported again,” Leavitt stated from the press briefing podium.
“Nothing will change the fact that Abrego Garcia will never be a Maryland father, he will never live in the United States of America again.”
Leavitt accused Van Hollen of possibly “using taxpayer dollars” to fund his trip, while also criticizing Democrats for prioritizing Abrego Garcia’s case over efforts to improve border security.
Leavitt was accompanied at the briefing by Patty Morin, a Maryland resident who lost her daughter Rachel to violence committed by a fugitive from El Salvador, Victor Martinez-Hernandez.
Morin condemned Van Hollen’s actions by saying, “To have a senator from Maryland who didn’t even acknowledge, or barely acknowledge, my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother… so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone who is not even an American citizen?”
In response to the conviction in Morin’s case, Van Hollen’s office issued a statement expressing gratitude for the verdict and emphasized the need for improved public safety and border security, while also supporting immigrant communities.
Van Hollen is not the only member of Congress to show interest in El Salvador recently.
Two Republican representatives, Riley Moore of West Virginia and Jason Smith of Missouri, posted pictures on social media from their tours of CECOT, praising the Trump administration’s deportation policies.
Moore stated he left “even more determined” to back the president’s initiatives.
Smith commented, “It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country.”
Several House Democrats are also considering similar trips, as Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, and Delia Ramirez of Illinois have reached out to the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer, to authorize a Congressional Member Delegation to visit CECOT.
In their letters, Garcia and Frost expressed that a Congressional delegation could conduct a welfare check on Abrego Garcia, as well as on others detained at CECOT.
image source from：https://www.npr.org/2025/04/17/nx-s1-5367666/abrego-garcia-van-hollen-el-salvador
