Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced on Thursday evening that he has finally managed to get in touch with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father mistakenly deported to El Salvador and detained in the country's infamous CECOT megaprison.
"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance," Van Hollen posted to Bluesky, along with a picture of him speaking with Abrego Garcia, apparently still in good health. "I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador this week and has been trying to establish contact with Abrego Garcia for days amid public outrage and uncertainty that he was alive.
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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who recently met with Trump in the Oval Office and proclaimed he could not return Abrego Garcia to U.S. soil, posted images of the meeting in response on X, to mock the Americans who have rallied on his behalf.
"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 exclaimed.
Abrego Garcia was arrested in 2019 under the first Trump administration and accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang by a police informant — something he categorically denies.
He was ultimately never convicted of any crime, gang-related or otherwise, after a year in Immigration and Customs Enforcement lockup. An immigration judge, while unsure he was innocent of gang activity, placed a protective order prohibiting his deportation to El Salvador, finding he would be in danger of gang violence.
The Trump administration has admitted his deportation to El Salvador was an "administrative error," but, despite multiple court rulings, including from the Supreme Court directing him to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return, maintains that it has no authority to order El Salvador to repatriate him. Several members of the administration, including Vice President JD Vance, have also doubled down on the claim that Abrego Garcia is a dangerous gang member, despite him having no criminal record.
