Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced last night that he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the U.S. citizen who the Trump administration deported to El Salvador.
Announced in a post shared on X, the Maryland Democrat Senator, who represents the state where Abrego Garcia lives, confirmed that he met with him through an image of the two together. Images of their meeting were first published by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who has previously denied attempts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
The Vice President of El Salvador has told US Senator Van Hollen that the reason they are still holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia is due to the Trump regime paying them to do so.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) April 16, 2025
Trump needs to be arrested and brought up on human trafficking charges. pic.twitter.com/W5XFts1b31
Van Hollen first traveled to El Salvador to the CECOT confinement center where Abrego Garcia is being held on Wednesday to help bring him back. Abrego Garcia is still currently being held despite the Supreme Court ruling that the administration must help “facilitate” his return.
The ruling was upheld on Thursday after a federal appeals court rejected the administration’s attempt to block the order. The court argued that Abrego Garcia is not being given “the semblance of due process.”
Despite Van Hollen’s attempts to carry out Abrego Garcia’s return, the senator said he was repeatedly denied access. Along with the soldiers at checkpoints, the vice president denied Van Hollen a phone call.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,” said Van Hollen in his post upon announcing that he had finally met with Abrego Garcia. “Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”
Abrego Garcia’s case has garnered national attention, as it has now been more than a month since he was deported. When news broke that he was deported to El Salvador, the government admitted in court papers that he was accidentally sent because of “an administrative error.” Abrego Garcia first came to the U.S. in 2011. In a 2019 court ruling, he was granted legal resident protections that should prohibit his return to El Salvador.
Since then, the administration has maintained that he was a member of the MS-13 gang. After weeks of pressure, they released documents pertaining to their claim on Wednesday, detailing that, although Abrego Garcia had no criminal history in 2019, officers believed he was a member.
Fascism is here. Our neighbors, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, are being kidnapped and sent to a foreign detention camp.
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) April 16, 2025
Wannabe dictators, Trump and Bukele, have defied the Supreme Court’s order to facilitate his return.
This is a disgusting moment and we must sound the alarm. pic.twitter.com/uaWyAgjFYf
Abrego Garcia’s case has raised alarms on the future of U.S. citizens in general as the president expressed his intent to send “homegrown criminals” to foreign countries in a press conference alongside Bukele.
Immigration attorneys, however, say that the deportation of anyone considered an American is unconstitutional. Perprofessor at the University of Virginia School of Law, Amanda Frost, the move reportedly violates the Eighth Amendment, protecting American citizens from cruel and unusual punishments.
If there are instances where someone has committed a crime, they must remain in the U.S. as a citizen, according to Frost.
“That’s the baseline right of citizenship, and always has been,” said Frost per NBC News.
