Topline
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., had a face-to-face meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the Maryland resident who was erroneously deported to El Salvador last month—on Thursday.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who ... More
Key Facts
Van Hollen shared a photo of himself sitting down with Abrego Garcia on his social media handles and wrote: “My main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar…Tonight I had that chance.”
The Senator added that he had spoken with Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer, “to pass along his message of love” and will provide a “full update” on the matter after returning to the U.S.
Van Hollen did not mention where his meeting with the wrongly deported man took place and what caused the Salvadoran government to allow the meeting after initially initially denying it.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to get a face-to-face meeting with Abrego Garcia, but was initially denied entry to the CECOT maximum security prison where the Maryland resident was being held.
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What Has El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Said About The Meeting
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele tweeted about Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia and appeared to mock concerns about the deported man’s well being and conditions at the CECOT prison. In a post on X, Bukele shared photos of Hollen and Abrego Garcia and wrote: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” In a follow up tweet after Hollen’s meeting, Bukele said: “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” The Salvadoran leader met with President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this week and said he does not intend to send back Abrego Garcia to the U.S. when asked. “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele said, reiterating Trump’s stance that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, a claim the deported man’s attorneys have dismissed. After making his posts, Bukele also retweeted several posts made by rightwing X accounts praising him for “trolling” and mocking Democrats.
What Has The White House Said About Van Hollen’s Meeting With Abrego Garcia?
In a post on X, White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai criticized Van Hollen for meeting with Abrego Garcia, saying: “Chris Van Hollen has firmly established Democrats as the party whose top priority is the welfare of an illegal alien MS-13 terrorist. It is truly disgusting. President Trump will continue to stand on the side of law-abiding Americans.” The White House’s official X handle posted a side-by-side photo of Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia with Trump meeting Patty Morin—the mother of Maryland woman, Rachel Morin, who was killed in 2023 by a Salvadoran migrant—at the Oval Office. The White House post was accompanied with the text: “We are not the same.”
Further Reading
Appeals Court Shoots Down Trump Officials' Latest Argument Contesting Abrego Garcia’s Return (Forbes)
Supreme Court Orders Trump Administration To Facilitate Return Of Mistakenly Deported Maryland Man (Forbes)
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