Sen. Van Hollen returns from El Salvador after meeting with deported Maryland man

WASHINGTON (7News) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen is back in the U.S. after a trip to El Salvador after meeting with the Maryland man at the center of a deportation battle.

RELATED | Sen. Van Hollen faces hurdles in El Salvador over Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation case

7News was at Dulles International Airport as Van Hollen arrived home Friday afternoon, around 4 p.m. The senator traveled to El Salvador Wednesday morning to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Maryland husband and father who was mistakenly deported to a notorious Salvadoran prison.

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"This case is about upholding the constitution for Kilmar Abrego Garcia and everyone else," said Van Hollen in a press conference Friday afternoon. Van Hollen said that the Trump administration should be taking complaints and claims that Abrego Garcia is a gang member to the courts, not over social media.

"I won't support one cent of taxpayer dollars going to keep Abrego Garcia illegally in El Salvador," added Van Hollen.

In a response to 7News' Tom Roussey, Van Hollen said that Abrego Garcia is no longer in notorious El Salvadorian prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). Abrego Garcia is now in a different prison outside of San Salvador, but no one knew until the senator's visit, Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen said he was pulled over by soldiers near the prison where Abrego Garcia was being held, and the soldiers denied his access to Abrego Garcia. Van Hollen also said that on his way out of El Salvador, he received word that he could meet with Abrego Garcia at Van Hollen's hotel room later that Thursday night.

Van Hollen said that he was the first person to communicate with Abrego Garcia outside of the prison.

Abrego Garcia said he is not afraid of the other approximately 25 prisoners in his cell, but others outside of his cell were a concern, according to Van Hollen.

"Other prisoners called out to him and taunted him in various ways," said Van Hollen. The senator said that Abrego Garcia's main request was to speak with his wife.

Van Hollen double-downed on claims that the government "illegally abducted Mr. Abrego Garcia from Maryland."

"An immigration judge found years ago that it would put his life in danger if he was returned to El Salvador. And so he was given protective status and a work permit. And by the way, that was done during the last Trump administration, the last time President Trump was in office, and they never appealed that decision," the senator said.

"He was handcuffed, shackled, and put on a plane with some others where he was put on a plane where he couldn't see out of the windows," said Van Hollen about Abrego Garcia's deportation conditions on Friday.

The battle began after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. But U.S. officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, are pushing back.

“Hard stop, he should not be in our country. He was deported, they needed one additional step in paperwork work, but now MS-13 is characterized, as it should be, as an FTO, a foreign terrorist organization,” said Bondi.

The White House released a response Wednesday after Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador, stating:

"Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is currently in El Salvador out of concern for an illegal immigrant MS-13 gang member and human trafficker, for whom he “won’t stop fighting until he’s home.”

The criminal illegal immigrant is already home — he’s a Salvadoran citizen.

Where was the Maryland senator’s concern when one of his own constituents, Rachel Morin — an innocent mother of five — was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant? Van Hollen didn’t even bother to contact her family."

In court, the Trump administration said Friday they had no update on the progress to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return.

Van Hollen said that there is no evidence that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member at his press conference on Friday. Van Hollen said that both the El Salvadorian Government and the Trump administration need to be held accountable for abducting Abrego Garcia and refusing to return him to the U.S., respectively.

Van Hollen also responded to the White House, bringing up murder victim Rachel Morin, saying that his "heart breaks" for the Morin family and he could not imagine losing one of his own three children.

One word that has become very contentious -- "facilitate."

Both sides have been going back and forth on exactly what the Supreme Court meant when it unanimously agreed that the U.S. must facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

White House officials have alleged that Abrego Garcia, who has lived in Maryland for more than a decade, is a member of the MS-13 gang. He and his family have denied having any involvement. He fled Central America seeking asylum due to threats of violence and persecution.