Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador highlights human rights concerns as he meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, detained under Trump’s wartime deportation order
Picture obtained from the X account of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, @nayibbukele, showing US Senator Chris Van Hollen (C) holding a meeting with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia (L), a US resident wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on 17 April 2025. Van Hollen met with Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation has triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies. Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland last month and expelled to El Salvador along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 fellow Salvadorans who were deported shortly after President Donald Trump invoked a rarely-used wartime authority. X account of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele / AFP
Picture obtained from the X account of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, @nayibbukele, showing US Senator Chris Van Hollen (L) shaking hands with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia (R), a US resident wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on 17 April 2025. Van Hollen met with Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation has triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies. Abrego Garcia was detained in Maryland last month and expelled to El Salvador along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 fellow Salvadorans who were deported shortly after President Donald Trump invoked a rarely-used wartime authority.
X account of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele / AFP
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen met Thursday with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant and US resident who was wrongfully deported under a Trump-era order. The visit follows a tense standoff with Salvadoran authorities and adds to the growing political controversy over former President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown.
The senator had traveled to El Salvador with the intent to visit Abrego Garcia inside the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the sprawling, high-security prison built by President Nayib Bukele. But on Thursday morning, Van Hollen was blocked by Salvadoran soldiers just three kilometers from the facility. The senator later told reporters they had been “ordered not to allow us to proceed.”
Despite the setback, Van Hollen succeeded in meeting Abrego Garcia later that day at a hotel in San Salvador. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Van Hollen shared a photo of their meeting over coffee and water, saying, “I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance.” The two were later photographed shaking hands, joined by another US official.
Abrego Garcia, 29, had lived in the United States under protected status and was detained in Maryland last month. He was then deported along with 238 Venezuelans and 22 other Salvadorans under a rarely-used wartime provision invoked by Trump. US officials accused him—without evidence—of being an illegal migrant involved in human trafficking and gang activity.
His deportation was later ruled illegal by a federal judge, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the Trump administration has insisted that the US is no longer responsible for his custody, calling it an "administrative error."
President Bukele responded to the meeting with sarcasm, posting on X: “Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody.” In another post, he suggested Abrego Garcia was “sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador.” Photos show no such scene—only a coffee cup and glass of water on the table.
Van Hollen criticized the Salvadoran government for denying him access to Abrego Garcia in prison and for the inhumane conditions at CECOT, where inmates reportedly sleep on steel cots without mattresses and are held in near-total isolation. “He has had no communication with anybody on the outside, including his wife and lawyers,” the senator said, calling the detention both illegal and dangerous.
The senator’s post showing him with Abrego Garcia sparked an angry response from Trump himself. In a Truth Social post, the former president lashed out, calling Van Hollen a “GRANDSTANDER!!!” and saying he “looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media.” Trump’s outburst appeared to be a reaction to the growing backlash over the wrongful deportation, which critics say defied a Supreme Court order and exposed the extreme reach of his immigration policy.
On Wednesday, Van Hollen met with Vice President Felix Ulloa, who denied him permission to even speak with Abrego Garcia by phone. Ulloa allegedly confirmed that the Trump administration is financially compensating El Salvador to detain the migrants.
President Bukele, who had met with Trump in Washington earlier this week, claimed he has no authority to release the deportee.
The case of Abrego Garcia has sparked widespread outcry in the United States, with critics slamming Trump’s use of emergency powers to override due process protections and carry out mass deportations. Advocates fear his situation may be the tip of the iceberg, as hundreds of others face similar fates under the controversial policy.
As Van Hollen returns to Washington, he vowed to provide a full report on his trip and continue pressing for accountability. “This is not just a mistake—it’s a violation of rights,” he said.
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