President Donald Trump took to TruthSocial to call Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) a “fool” following his visit with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant illegally deported to El Salvador due to an administrative error.
“Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!” Truth posted.
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Van Hollen met with Garcia, a resident of Maryland, on Thursday evening following several failed attempts to speak with him.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,” the senator said in a post to X on Thursday night, complete with a photo of them talking. “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.”
Garcia was deported by the Trump administration on March 15 to a prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, in violation of a standing court order that protected him from deportation to the country due to a gang threat he faced in El Salvador. A government lawyer wrote in a court filing that Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.”
The Department of Homeland Security targeted Garcia for deportation due to his alleged MS-13 ties. Attorney General Pam Bondi released on Wednesday 13-pages of police and immigration records on Garcia dating back to 2019.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN
Local authorities apprehended Garcia in 2019 in a Home Depot parking lot while engaging with known MS-13 gang members, who were dressed in MS-13-affiliated clothing. An informant who had “provided truthful accurate information in the past” had identified Garcia as an active MS-13 gang member. Garcia disputed the claim. An immigration judge ruled that the informant’s information was “proven and reliable,” but Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador.
A federal judge ruled the Trump administration must “facilitate and effectuate” Garcia’s return to the United States by April 7, which the Justice Department appealed. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower court’s ruling that the Trump administration must work to return Garcia to the United States.