Senator Chris Van Hollen met with Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who is being held in an El Salvador prison after being accidentally deported from Maryland on Thursday evening.
Van Hollen, D-Md. confirmed the meeting in X’s post with a photo of the two of them talking.
“I said my main goal for this trip was to meet Kilmer,” the Senator’s post read. “Tonight I had that chance. I called his wife, Jennifer, to share his love message. I look forward to providing a full update on my return.”
I said my main goal for this trip was to meet up with Kilmer. I had that chance tonight. I called his wife Jennifer to share his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon return. pic.twitter.com/u9y2gzpxcb
– Senator Chris van Hollen (@chrisvanhollen) April 18, 2025
Van Hollen said Thursday that he was denied entry to prison while trying to check the happiness of Abrego Garcia, who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing him from being deported.
At a press conference in San Salvador after a failed attempt to meet with Abrego Garcia, the senator said he was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint about two miles (3 km) from the Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), where Abrego Garcia is being held, as other cars continued.
The Centre for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) is a Megaprison located in Tecolca, El Salvador.
“They stopped us because they were ordered not to allow us to proceed,” Van Hollen said.
US President Donald Trump and Salvador President Naive Buquere said this week that despite the Trump administration calling his deportation a mistake and that the US Supreme Court called the administration to promote his return, they have no basis for sending Abrego Garcia back. Trump officials said Abrego Garcia, a Salvador citizen who lives in Maryland, was linked to the MS-13 gang, but his lawyer said the government had not provided evidence and that Abrego Garcia was never charged with a crime related to such activity.
Van Hollen’s trip became a partisan flashpoint in the US as Democrats seized Abrego Garcia’s deportation. Republicans criticized Democrats for defending him, claiming that his deportation was part of a greater effort to reduce crime.
Van Hollen said Wednesday that he met with Vice President Felix Ullore, Salvadra faction.
“Today, I tried to get in touch with Abrego Garcia by driving to Secott Prison again,” Van Hollen said Thursday.
Van Hollen was denied entry, but several House Republicans visited the infamous gang prison in support of Trump’s efforts. Rep. Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, posted Tuesday evening that Abrego Garcia had visited the prison where he was held. He did not mention Abrego Garcia, but said the facility “contains the most brutal criminals in the country.”
“I am now more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our hometown,” Moore posted on social media.
Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith also visited the prison, the chairman of the House Way and the Means Committee. He posted to X that “thanks to President Trump” in the facility “now includes illegal immigrants who have invaded our country and committed violence against Americans.”
The fight over Abrego Garcia has also unfolded in controversial court filings, with repeated refusals from the government telling the judge what he intends to do to retaliate him.
Since March, El Salvador has accepted over 200 Venezuelan immigrants from the United States (which Trump administration officials have accused them of gang activity and violent crimes) and has placed them inside the country’s largest security gang prison, just outside San Salvador. That prison was part of Bukere’s widespread efforts to crack down on the country’s powerful street gang, putting 84,000 people behind the bar and making Bukere extremely popular at home.
Human rights groups accused the Bukere government of having people incarcerated as doctors who have been jailed for “systemic use of torture and other abuse.” Officials there deny any misconduct.
