Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen recently visited Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to inspect the detention center where Garcia is being held and discuss his situation. This visitation sparked backlash towards Hollen, in which he felt he needed to defend his actions. He strongly advised the citizens that he is defending the constitution by visiting, not Garcia.
In an interview with ABC News, Van Hollen said, “I am not defending the man. I’m defending the rights of this man to due process.” He continued, “And the Trump administration has admitted in court that he was wrongfully detained and wrongfully deported. My mission and my purpose are to make sure that we uphold the rule of law, because if we take it away from him, we do jeopardize it for everybody else.”
Wrongful Deportation
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was apprehended by ICE in Maryland on March 12 and transferred to a Texas detention center. Soon after, he was deported due to a ‘clerical error’ admitted by the Trump Administration. Although there was a 2019 court order prohibiting the removal of Garcia, he was sent to El Salvador’s notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison.
The Trump administration alleges Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang, which his attorneys and family strongly deny. In 2011, he fled gang threats in El Salvador and crossed the border into the United States. He has since married a U.S. citizen and has a 5-year-old son with autism. The administration has not put forth any evidence showing Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the MS-13 gang, nor any other terrorist activity.
Senator Van Hollen’s Visit
Van Hollen was preparing to leave the country to visit the deportee when he was informed he would be denied access to CECOT in El Salvador. However, he received word that they would bring Abrego Garcia to his hotel. Van Hollen explained, “I think, at some point, the president of El Salvador realized it was looking really bad to have this person who had been absconded from the streets of Maryland in one of their prisons and not able to communicate.”
What Van Hollen discovered during the meeting, when speaking with Abrego Garcia, is truly devastating. “He told me about the trauma he had been experiencing, both in terms of the abduction and the fact that he was originally sent to CECOT, which is this notorious prison,” Van Hollen said. “He specifically mentioned his 5-year-old boy who has autism, because that boy had been in the car with him when U.S. agents had stopped them and handcuffed him and then taken him away.”
Van Hollen criticized the President of El Salvador and the role he is playing in this wrongful deportation, claiming it violates international law, as he is being held without any communication. However, the senator’s goal was to be able to go back to the U.S. and let Abrego Garcia’s family know that he is doing okay, and he achieved that.
Criticism Toward the Administration
Van Hollen further criticized President Trump and his mishandling of the situation. He also pushed back on the idea that he is defending a gang member.. He said, “The idea that you can’t defend people’s rights under the Constitution and fight MS-13 and gang violence is a very dangerous idea. That’s the idea the president wants to put out. That’s why they’re spreading all these lies.” He continued, “I would say that anyone that’s not prepared to defend the constitutional rights of one man when they threaten the constitutional rights of all doesn’t deserve to lead.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a man, a human being with a wife and a family. His life was uprooted on a random day when he was forcefully shoved into a van and flown across the country to be put on another plane heading to a notorious prison. There was no due process. There is also no end in sight for his situation.
