The Trump administration sharply rebuked Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) this week for prioritizing a deported MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman murdered by an illegal Salvadoran national in 2023. Van Hollen has traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to return 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite his gang affiliations.
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally at age 16 and was arrested by ICE in Maryland before being deported in March to El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center. While an immigration judge granted “withholding of removal” due to alleged threats from rival gang Barrio 18, DHS confirmed that two separate judges had already identified Abrego Garcia as a member of MS-13.
Though his deportation flight was acknowledged as a procedural mistake, President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele both refused to reverse it. Bukele rejected a request to return Abrego Garcia, stating plainly, “I can’t smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”
Van Hollen responded by flying to El Salvador himself, declaring his intent to meet with officials and Abrego Garcia. “He was illegally abducted and needs to come home,” Van Hollen claimed. Meanwhile, the Trump administration noted the irony, saying, “He’s already home,” and criticized Van Hollen for his silence on Rachel Morin’s murder.
Van Hollen’s campaign gained support from leftist lawmakers including Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Robert Garcia (D-CA), and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), who are organizing others to pressure for Abrego Garcia’s return.
Trump’s DHS blasted Van Hollen, stating he has done “more to bring a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, and illegal alien back to Maryland than to protect his American constituents.” The department also highlighted the senator’s complete lack of response to Morin’s brutal murder, contrasting his attention to an illegal alien with his disregard for a murdered American mother.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) joined the pushback, declaring that Abrego Garcia is “where he belongs.” Trump’s administration continues to draw a hard line against prioritizing the rights of criminal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, reinforcing its America First approach to law enforcement and border security.
