Md. Sen. Chris Van Hollen to travel to El Salvador Wednesday to check on Abrego Garcia's 'well-being'

Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun on Apr 15, 2025

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Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen will travel to El Salvador on Wednesday hoping to check on the “well-being” of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the Maryland man erroneously deported – and try to secure his release from a notorious prison.

“It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release, which is why tomorrow I am traveling to El Salvador,” the Democrat said in a written statement Tuesday.

“My hope is to visit Kilmar and check on his well-being and to hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release. We must urgently continue working to return Kilmar safely home to Maryland.”

Van Hollen announced the trip after unsuccessful attempts to meet with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who was in Washington on Monday. Bukele said during a White House meeting with President Donald Trump that he will not release or return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

The Trump administration maintains that U.S. courts can’t compel Abrego Garcia’s return because they don’t have jurisdiction in El Salvador.

Van Hollen had earlier announced his intention to travel to El Salvador if the U.S. had been unwilling or unable to bring the Beltsville man home on its own. The senator told The Baltimore Sun Monday that he planned to “move forward” even if Bukele refused to meet with him.

The 29-year-old Prince George’s County sheet metal apprentice was deported last month due to what the government has described as an “administrative error.” He lived in Beltsville with his wife, a U.S. citizen, their 5-year-old son and two stepchildren.

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