Senator Van Hollen refuses to answer questions about Garcia’s alleged gang ties

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) made national headlines when he visited El Salvador to generate support for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States.  

However, when asked about his alleged gang ties, Van Hollen did his best to deflect.  

Supporting due process 

Van Hollen has been using this case to make a different case against Trump as a president who has gone rogue.  

In explaining his support for Garcia, Van Hollen stated, “I’m for whatever gives him his due process rights. 

“An immigration judge in 2019 said he should not be deported to El Salvador because that would put his life at risk from gang members like MS-13. The Trump administration did not appeal that immigration judge’s order to keep him in the United States.  

“He is here legally now, has a work permit, is a sheet metal worker, has a family, and three kids. I am fine with whatever result happens as long as he is given his due process rights under the Constitution.” 

Taxpayer-Funded Trip 

Throughout this ordeal, I have railed against Van Hollen because this was likely a trip funded by the American taxpayer to advocate for an illegal immigrant, which Van Hollen has finally confirmed.  

Van Hollen tried to skirt the issue at first, saying that it was an “officially cleared, you know, congressional trip.” 

Fox News host Shannon Bream pressed him, asking, “So taxpayer dollars?” Van Hollen responded, “Yes, like every other trip.” 

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) responded to the admission, stating, “Look, can the Democrats travel to El Salvador if they want, and is that part, reasonably, of their work? Yes, but what they’re doing is traveling there in order to highlight, ‘We want to bring this illegal immigrant whom two courts have found as an MS-13 member, back to America.' That’s astonishingly bad policy, and I think astonishingly bad politics.” 

Avoiding the Question 

Senator Van Hollen is maximizing his 15 minutes right now, doing the media circuit to promote the release of Garcia. Yet, when he was asked point-blank if he could say with “absolute certainty” that Garcia was not an MS-13 gang member, he refused to answer.  

Then he accused Trump of doing exactly what he is doing, stating, “What Donald Trump is trying to do here is change the subject. They are trying to litigate on social media what they should be doing in the courts.” 

He then read from the ruling by Judge Xinis, stating there was “no evidence linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any terrorist activity has been presented to the court.” 

Since that ruling, the Trump administration has released its dossier on Garcia, which included gang tattoos, gang name, gang rank, and the significance of the clothing he was wearing in relation to the symbolism for the gang. If everything the administration said is true, this will blow up in their faces.