In a post on X on Thursday night, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen confirmed he met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Prince George’s County resident who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month.
Van Hollen wrote in the post that during his visit to the Central American country, he was able to meet with Abrego Garcia and pass along “a message of love” to his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura. He added he would provide a full update when he returns to the U.S. on Friday.
I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return. pic.twitter.com/U9y2gZpxCb
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 18, 2025
The meeting at a San Salvador hotel came hours after Van Hollen said he was denied entry into the Salvadoran high-security prison, where he was trying to check on Abrego Garcia’s well-being and push for his release.
Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia has not had any contact with his family or his lawyers.
“There has been no ability to find out anything about his health and well-being,” Van Hollen said on Thursday. “We won’t give up until Kilmar has his due process rights respected.”
He said Abrego Garcia should be able to have contact with his lawyers under international law.
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, was present at the meeting, and said in a post on X that Abrego Garcia was “miraculously risen” from the so-called “death camps and torture” of the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody https://t.co/2xVt4SNOGn
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025
Bukele added that since Abrego Garcia has been confirmed healthy, “he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.”
The Salvadoran president was poking fun at claims made by human rights groups that the CECOT prison subjects inmates to “systematic use of torture and other mistreatment.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump’s administration conceded it had mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia, who was in the country under protected status since 2019 after a judge decided he would likely be targeted by other Salvadoran gangs if sent back. He’s also married to an American citizen and a father of three.
A district court judge ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return and that decision was supported by the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Abrego Garcia and return him to the U.S. “should be shocking.”
Despite the Trump administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang, they have provided no evidence to back it up. Abrego Garcia has never been charged or convicted of a crime, though he did enter the country illegally as a minor in 2011.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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