Senator Van Hollen denied visit with controversial deportee

Democrats appear to have jumped the gun big league by supporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia after the Trump administration deported him.

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) went after some headlines by flying to El Salvador, hoping to visit with Garcia and bring him home, but he was denied.

Denied

Garcia is currently being housed in the El Salvadoran mega prison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT). The controversy here is that Garcia had deportation protection against being sent back to El Salvador for fear of being threatened by gangs, but the Trump administration claims he is a member of MS-13.

Van Hollen is among a core group of Democrats advocating for Garcia, so he decided to fly to El Salvador to meet him.

Van Hollen explained, "I asked the vice president if I could meet with Mr. Abrego Garcia, and he said, ‘well, you need to make earlier provisions to go visit CECOT.’”

However, when he arrived at CECOT, he told them he did not want to see the facility, just meet with Garcia. But he was told they were “not able to make that happen.” The Maryland Democrat added, "I am going to keep pressing. I will keep pressing in my remaining time here, and I will keep pressing beyond that if necessary."

Maryland Mother Rails Against Democrat Senator

In 2023, Rachel Morin was raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, and she would like to know why her Senator is advocating for an illegal immigrant and alleged MS-13 gang member and not her daughter.

Patty Morin, Rache’s mother, was livid that Van Hollen was in El Salvador to advocate for Garcia’s release.

She stated, "To have a senator from Maryland who didn't even acknowledge, or barely acknowledge, my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother…so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that's not even an American citizen?

“Why does that person have more right than I do, or my daughter or my grandchildren? I don't, I don't understand this."

White House Responds

When the White House learned of the trip, it was outraged that a U.S. Senator had decided to take it upon himself to interfere in the case.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, "It's appalling and sad that Senator Van Hollen and the Democrats applauding his trip to El Salvador today are incapable of having any shred of common sense of empathy for their own constituents and our citizens.”

She also went after the media for constantly referring to Garcia as a “Maryland father,” stating, "There is no Maryland father," [Garcia] "is an illegal alien, MS13 terrorist."

I have been very cautious about this story because the White House was not being very forthcoming with the information it had against Garcia. I stated this would be a disaster for one of the two sides and a big boost for the other. The White House has just dropped a bombshell on that, which we will cover in a separate report later today.