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Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. says the margarita was a fake. He says anger is real.
Van Hollen addressed reporters Thursday after landing at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, returning from a highly publicized trip to El Salvador to meet deported illegal immigrant Kilmer Abrego Garcia. He tried to set the record straight for what is now called “Margarita Gate,” a viral photo posted by Salvadora’s President Naive Bukere.
“Let me be very clear,” Van Hollen said. “Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us, and if you want to play a bit of Sherlock Holmes, it tells us how you can know about it.
“Nobody drank margaritas, sugar water, whatever it was, nobody drank it.”
Kilmer Abrego Garcia is suspected of human trafficking in a report obtained by Fox News
Van Hollen claimed that the glasses were placed after the meeting began as a gradual photo shoot, adding that earlier footage showed a drinkless table. Van Hollen accused El Salvador President Naive Buquere and the Trump administration of both attempting to distract him from what he described as a constitutional crisis.
“This is a lengthy lesson that President Bukel makes to deceive people,” Van Hollen said. “And that also shows the length of time the Trump administration and the president go, because when he was asked by a reporter about this, he just went on a ride.”
Kilmer Abrego Garcia on the left will meet with Senator Chris Van Hollen at El Salvador on Thursday. (x/@nayibbukele)
Trump has his own view, saying, “Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen looks like a fool standing in El Salvador yesterday, pleading for attention to the fake news media, or anyone.
The controversy comes from the case of Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvador national who was deported from Maryland last month and placed in the country’s infamous Cecot prison.
White House photos show how political parties stand in immigrants amid Abrego Garcia’s deportation
Federal authorities have called deportation “an administrative error” in court. Van Hollen and other Democrats argued that it violated Garcia’s constitutional rights to the legitimate process.
However, the Trump administration has pushed back, pointing to Garcia’s alleged domestic abuse, gang connections and alleged involvement in human trafficking.
The 2022 Homeland Security Investigation Report identified Garcia as a member of MS-13 and suspected of being a human trafficker. The 2021 domestic violence application written by his wife Jennifer Vasquez said, “I have multiple photos/videos about how violent he is and all his bruises [has] He left me. ”
D-Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the group, met at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport on Friday to meet with Maryland’s illegal immigrant Kilmer Abrego Garcia. (Pool)
Despite these reports, Van Hollen has argued that no evidence has been presented in court and removal is illegal. He cited a decision by the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Supreme Court ordering the return of Garcia.
“In this case, the government, the Trump administration, is claiming the right to hide the residents of this country in foreign prisons, without similar due process,” Van Hollen said, citing a recent Fourth Circuit decision. “That is the foundation of our constitutional order.”
He added that federal judge, Judge Paula Sinis, who first reviewed the case, found the administration “did not provide evidence linking Abrego Garcia with MS-13 or terrorist activities.”
Kilmer Abrego Garcia on the left was Sen. Chris Van Hollen and D-Md in El Salvador on Thursday. I’ll meet. (Reuters)
However, Trump has vehemently defended his deportation. In the Truth Society and X post, he said Democrats are demanding that they have a history of return and violence for those with gang bonds, and that they have a photo of the MS-13 gangster signs allegedly showing Garcia’s fist tattooed on his knuckle.
“This is the hand of someone who feels Democrats should be brought back to the US. They said they are not members of the MS-13, despite being tattooed on his knuckles.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador this week after the Salvador government first denied access to Garcia. After the report, authorities arranged a meeting at the hotel and filmed it, he said. He said that Salvador soldiers stopped him from approaching prison earlier, and he was surprised by his permission to meet him at last minute.
He also said the US has committed $15 million to El Salvador to support detention work, with more than $4 million already being paid. Van Hollen argued that the funds were fraudulent and that they had pledged to oppose future spending.
“I don’t support the use of a penny of taxpayers’ dollars to continue to illegally detain Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” he said.
D-Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a news conference this week at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport, deported Maryland’s illegal immigrant, Kilmer Abrego Garcia. (Pool)
Critics, including Republicans and Trump’s allies, have questioned why Van Hollen travels abroad to defend those allegedly gang ties and those with domestic abuse records, and remain silent about victims like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman killed by illegal immigrants in 2023.
The White House lined up photos alongside Trump, where he met Morin’s mother and Abrego Garcia, drawing sharp contrasts. Caption: “We’re not the same.”
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Asked about the comparison, Van Hollen said that his “heart breaking” for Morin’s family defended his actions as if they were constitutional.
“The reason we have a court is to punish a guilty, but to make sure that the person who has not committed the crime is guilty and is not detained intentionally,” he said.
Fox News’ Rachel Wolf, David Spant, Greg Norman, Greg Weiner and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Jasmine is a writer for Fox News Digital and is a New Orleans-based military spouse. Stories can be sent to jasmine.baehr@fox.com
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