BALTIMORE, MD – U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has announced plans to travel to El Salvador to advocate for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration in March 2025.
The move has ignited a firestorm of criticism, with opponents, including former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan and President Donald Trump, accusing Van Hollen of prioritizing an alleged MS-13 gang member over American victims of gang violence.
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was deported to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) alongside 260 suspected gang members, including 23 MS-13 members and 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration initially called the deportation an “administrative error,” citing a 2019 court order granting Abrego Garcia protection from deportation due to fears of persecution in El Salvador.
However, officials later argued that his alleged MS-13 affiliation, based on a confidential informant and a 2019 immigration judge’s finding, justified his removal.
Van Hollen, who has called Abrego Garcia’s deportation an “abduction and unlawful detention,” requested a meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele during Bukele’s visit to Washington, D.C., on April 14.
When Bukele declined, Van Hollen vowed to travel to El Salvador to check on Abrego Garcia’s well-being and press for his release.
“Following his abduction and unlawful deportation, U.S. federal courts have ordered the safe return of my constituent,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release.”
The senator’s actions have drawn sharp rebuke from Tom Homan, who criticized Van Hollen for focusing on Abrego Garcia while ignoring Maryland victims of MS-13 violence.
Homan pointed to cases like the 2023 rape and murder of Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman attacked an undocumented MS-13 member.
Homan said,“It’s mind-boggling that Van Hollen shows no interest in the Marylanders killed, raped, and tortured by MS-13 and illegal migrants, yet he’s ready to fly to El Salvador for someone ICE says is a gang member.”
President Trump, during a White House meeting with Bukele on April 14, 2025, also weighed in, slamming Democrats and the media for advocating for Abrego Garcia’s return.
“They’d love to have a criminal released into our country. These are sick people,” Trump said, referring to those pushing for the release of deportees.
He praised Bukele for accepting deportees, noting, “You are helping us out, and we appreciate it.”
Bukele, a key ally in Trump’s deportation efforts, was unequivocal in his refusal to release Abrego Garcia. Speaking in the Oval Office, he stated, “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous!”
Bukele emphasized that Abrego Garcia, whom he described as a “terrorist,” would remain in CECOT, a maximum-security prison housing alleged gang members. El Salvador has received $6 million from the U.S. to detain deportees, including those labeled as MS-13 members or Tren de Aragua affiliates.
Abrego Garcia’s family and legal team deny his MS-13 ties, asserting that the evidence against him—a Chicago Bulls hat, a hoodie, and a confidential informant’s claim—is flimsy.
“He’s never been convicted of anything,” said his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, a U.S. citizen. “My husband is a loving father and an amazing husband.” A federal judge, Paula Xinis, ruled on April 1, 2025, that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was illegal, citing the lack of substantiated evidence of gang membership. The U.S. Supreme Court later ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return, a directive the administration has resisted, claiming El Salvador has final authority.
Van Hollen’s planned trip has garnered support from some Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), who expressed willingness to join him in El Salvador to demand Abrego Garcia’s release.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Bukele’s refusal “pure nonsense,” arguing that due process was “grossly violated.” However, critics, including Department of Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin, accused Van Hollen of prioritizing “an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, and illegal alien” over American safety.
