Senator Chris Van Hollen has met face-to-face with Kilmar Abrego Garcia—the man the Trump administration deported to El Salvador despite a court order saying he should stay in the U.S.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. 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,” Van Hollen posted on X Thursday night.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation in March was labeled a “mistake” by U.S. officials. But the Trump administration has made no effort to bring him back. In fact, it’s doing the opposite—fighting in court to keep him in a Salvadoran prison.
Photos of Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia were posted first by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who made it clear: Abrego Garcia isn’t going anywhere. “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy,” Bukele wrote on X, “he’ll remain in El Salvador’s custody.”
Earlier this week, Bukele met with Trump in the Oval Office. He told reporters he doesn’t “have the power to return him to the United States.”
That same day, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the U.S. would provide a plane to bring Abrego Garcia back—if El Salvador allowed it. “It’s in Bukele’s hands,” she said.
On Thursday night, the White House blasted Van Hollen’s visit. “Disgusting,” the statement read. “President Trump will continue to stand on the side of law-abiding Americans.”
Van Hollen isn’t buying it. He flew to El Salvador on Wednesday to fight for Abrego Garcia’s release, saying Trump officials are trying to “cover up” what he calls an unlawful deportation.
A court agrees. On Thursday, a federal appeals court rejected Trump’s request to delay a ruling that demands Abrego Garcia’s return. In a scathing decision, the three-judge panel said the administration was trying to “stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process.”
Van Hollen has been meeting with Salvadoran officials, human rights groups, and U.S. embassy staff. But when he tried to visit the prison where Abrego Garcia is held—a maximum-security facility known as CECOT—he was blocked.
“We were stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about 3 kilometers from the CECOT prison,” Van Hollen said. “We were told by the soldiers that they’d been ordered not to allow us to proceed any further than that point.”
Even a request to speak to Abrego Garcia by phone was denied, according to Van Hollen. Vice President Félix Ulloa also refused to let Abrego Garcia call his wife.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, his wife, hasn’t spoken to him in over a month. After hearing from Van Hollen that her husband is alive, she said:
“My children and my prayers have been answered. The efforts of my family and community in fighting for justice are being heard, because I now know that my husband is alive. God is listening, and the community is standing strong.”
Maryland officials aren’t backing down either. They’ve written to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, demanding “verifiable proof that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is alive, healthy and safe.”
“It has now been over a month since Mr. Abrego Garcia was illegally deported by federal authorities in direct violation of a court order,” they wrote. “During that time, his family has received no meaningful confirmation of his health.”
Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011. In 2019, a court blocked his deportation, citing concerns for his safety in El Salvador.
But in February, under a secretive $6 million deal with El Salvador, the U.S. started shipping hundreds of immigrants—including alleged gang members—to be locked up there.
Bukele called it a win. “Outsourcing part of [the U.S.] prison system,” he said, “in exchange for a fee.”
Now, Trump wants to expand it. On Monday, he urged Bukele to build more prisons.
