Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has returned from a closely watched trip to El Salvador, where he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident whose wrongful deportation has become a flashpoint in the national debate over U.S. immigration policy and due process rights.
Van Hollen’s efforts to check on Abrego Garcia’s welfare were initially rebuffed: armed soldiers at a military checkpoint blocked the senator and his legal team from entering CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious maximum-security prison, where Abrego Garcia had been held. This denial came just days after several prominent Republican officials and lawmakers were permitted to tour and stage photo opportunities at the same facility.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who lived in Maryland for more than a decade with his U.S. citizen wife and children, was deported to El Salvador in March 2025. This action violated a 2019 federal court order that explicitly barred his removal due to credible threats of persecution in his home country. The deportation, which the Trump administration later admitted was an “administrative error,” has drawn widespread criticism from legal experts and elected officials.
The Trump administration has defended the deportation by alleging Abrego Garcia’s ties to the MS-13 gang—a claim his attorneys and family forcefully deny. Public records confirm that Abrego Garcia has never been charged with or convicted of any crime in the U.S. In a press event in the Oval Office on April 18, President Trump posed with a digitally altered image of Abrego Garcia’s hand, claiming the doctored photo was proof of gang affiliation. The administration has since intensified its campaign to link Abrego Garcia to MS-13, releasing police field interview sheets and a withdrawn protective order filed by his wife—none of which resulted in criminal charges or convictions.
After being denied entry to CECOT, Van Hollen was eventually allowed to meet Abrego Garcia at his hotel, though the senator described the circumstances as questionable. Salvadoran officials initially tried to stage the meeting poolside, but Van Hollen insisted it be moved indoors to a dining area.
During their conversation, Abrego Garcia recounted being handcuffed, shackled, and transported on planes with other migrants, unable to see where they were going. He described being placed in a cell with 25 other prisoners at CECOT, where he was taunted by inmates and traumatized by the conditions.
Nine days before the meeting, he had been transferred to a different detention center in Santa Ana, which Van Hollen said offered “better conditions,” though Abrego Garcia still had no access to news or communication with the outside world.
Van Hollen emphasized that the Supreme Court has unanimously ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., and noted that none of the allegations about gang membership have been tested in court.
“In other words, put up in court or shut up,” the senator said.
Van Hollen said additional members of Congress plan to travel to El Salvador to press for Abrego Garcia’s release.
“This case is not about just one man. It’s about protecting the constitutional rights of everyone who resides in the United States of America,” Van Hollen said.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis found that Abrego Garcia “received no process at all,” and the administration conceded this in court, admitting it had not allowed him to challenge the deportation. The U.S. Constitution guarantees due process protections to all persons within the United States, not just citizens, meaning that anyone, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without fair legal procedures.
