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Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland secured a meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador on Thursday, fulfilling the promise he made to the Maryland man’s family after he was abducted by the Trump administration.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen wrote. “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love.”
The breakthrough occurred days after U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele claimed that nothing could be done after Abrego Garcia was wrongly sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
“I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” Bukele claimed in the Oval Office meeting, seated beside Trump.
Abrego Garcia’s return has been ordered by U.S. courts, including the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which found he was wrongly deported and denied due process.
Asked on Thursday about the situation his administration created, Trump said, “I’m not involved in it. I’m going to respond to that by saying you’ll have to speak to the lawyers, the DOJ. I’ve heard many things about him. We’ll have to find out what the truth is.”
But the insinuation of Abrego Garcia’s wrongdoing is a lie. The Maryland father of two was targeted because of Trump’s anti-immigrant zealotry, and his illegal deportation occurred because Trump’s departments of Justice and State have chosen to sweep up people on specious grounds.
Meanwhile, the Bukele regime attempted to use the meeting between Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia to cast doubt on reports from international human rights organizations about the inhumane conditions in El Salvador’s prison system.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Bukele wrote.
But The New York Times reported that an aide to Bukele placed margarita glasses on the table before the men in order to stage the photo. Pro-Trump right-wing media quickly regurgitated the Salvadoran autocrat’s propaganda. The New York Post—which is owned by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch—published the photos under the headline “Alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia seen ‘sipping margaritas’ with Sen. Van Hollen.”
The meeting also served to debunk many of the narratives offered up by the Trump administration in defense of their actions against Abrego Garcia. Attorney General Pam Bondi has claimed—without evidence—that the Maryland father is a “top” member of the MS-13 gang and a “terrorist.” But apparently, he is not so dangerous that El Salvador would allow him to meet with a U.S. senator without restraints.
Ultimately, the trip was a success for Van Hollen and other Democrats who have been pushing for Abrego Garcia’s release and the restoration of due process. Van Hollen did what Trump refuses to do: help at least one American family.
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