Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland recently flew to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported migrant accused of being part of the MS-13 gang. The 29-year-old Garcia was sent to El Salvador and locked up in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a high-security prison that holds people suspected of gang activities. However, Van Hollen’s efforts to see Garcia were unsuccessful, as prison officials refused his request.
Garcia’s legal team says he has no ties to MS-13, despite accusations from U.S. officials. Van Hollen wanted to meet with him personally to check on his welfare and discuss the possibility of bringing him back to the United States. Speaking to reporters from El Salvador, the senator said he met with Vice President Félix Ulloa since the president was out of the country. Van Hollen said he expressed deep concern over Garcia’s case and pushed hard to arrange a meeting.
“I told the vice president that I wasn’t interested in a prison tour—I just wanted to see Mr. Garcia,” Van Hollen said. However, he was told that such a visit required earlier planning. Even when he offered to return next week, he was told no guarantees could be made. He also asked if Garcia’s family could speak to him by phone, but this was also denied.
Why was Senator Van Hollen’s visit denied?
The Salvadoran vice president said that there were strict rules about visiting the high-security CECOT prison. Even though Van Hollen is a U.S. senator, the Salvadoran authorities stood firm. Van Hollen believes that the situation is unfair and continues to accuse the former Trump administration of wrongly deporting Garcia without proper evidence.
Garcia’s case has sparked political debate in the U.S., especially after the Supreme Court supported a lower court’s ruling that could allow his return. The Trump administration had agreed to remove legal blocks, but El Salvador’s government still has the final say. Attorney General Pam Bondi made it clear that returning Garcia depends solely on El Salvador’s decision, not the United States.
Van Hollen posted on social media that Garcia had been “illegally abducted” and should not spend another day apart from his family. His trip to El Salvador is the first official move by any lawmaker to get Garcia released. But not everyone supports Van Hollen’s actions. Critics, including the White House, say the senator is ignoring American victims by focusing on migrants accused of crimes.
The senator’s visit came just days after another El Salvadoran man, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, was convicted for the brutal murder of Rachel Morin, a mother of five in Maryland. The shocking case has added emotional weight to the ongoing immigration debate. Rachel’s mother, Patty Morin, publicly condemned Van Hollen’s trip, saying her daughter’s tragic death is being ignored while attention is being given to non-citizens.
At a press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Van Hollen’s trip “sad and appalling.” She stood beside Morin’s mother, who spoke in painful detail about her daughter’s last moments. She questioned why more care is given to criminals who are not U.S. citizens than to American families suffering loss and pain.
Despite the criticism, Van Hollen says he won’t give up. He’s determined to keep fighting for Garcia’s return and to ensure what he calls an “injustice” is corrected. Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Maxwell Frost and Robert Garcia, have expressed plans to visit El Salvador as well to check on other migrants held in CECOT. They have written to Congress asking permission to lead a delegation to assess the prisoners’ well-being.