After flying to El Salvador looking for a meeting with the resident of Maryland who, according to the courts, was wrongly expelled from the United States last month, Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-MD., Shared a photo with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Maryland senator, who flew to the country on Wednesday, shared a Photo on x Thursday evening, sitting with Abrego Garcia.
“I said that my main objective of this trip was to meet Kilmar. Tonight, I was lucky. I called his wife, Jennifer, to transmit her love message. I can’t wait to provide a complete update on my return,” said Van Hollen in the post.
Senator Chris Van Hollen shares a photo of the meeting of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Salvador.
Senator Chris Van Hollen / X
Abrego Garcia’s wife was informed that the meeting between Abrego Garcia and Senator Chris Van Hollen was organized by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, a source close to the family told ABC News.
The source said that Garcia and his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, were unable to speak, adding that the family does not know where Abrego Garcia is held.
In a Vasquez declaration provided by Casa, a defense group for immigration defenders who represents the family, Abrego Garcia’s wife said that her prayers had been granted.
“My children and prayers have been granted,” said Vasquez. “The efforts of my family and my community in the fight against justice are heard, because I now know that my husband is alive. God listens and that the community is strong.” “We still have so many questions, hopes and fears,” added Vasquez. “I will continue to pray and fight for Kilmar’s return home,” she said.
The meeting comes after Van Hollen shared a video On social networks earlier Thursday, showing that the guards prevented him as well as the others from entering Cecot, the prison where Abrego Garcia is detained.
The Supreme Court and a Federal Judge of Maryland ordered that the US government “facilitates” the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States after the Ministry of Justice declared in court documents that the 29-year-old father was wrongly expelled due to an “administrative error”.
The Trump administration allegedly alleged that it could not bring him back and said outside the court that Greo Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
More details on the status of the case of Abrego Garcia have not yet been provided.
Salvadoral soldiers are on the guard, while the Cecot logo is seen, during a media tour at the prison of the Terrorism Contest Center (CECOC), in Tecoleca, El Salvador on April 4, 2025.
Jose Cabezas / Reuters
The White House criticized Van Hollen for having made the trip and pleaded for Abrego Garcia, saying with little evidence, that Brego Garcia is a member of a gang.
The Ministry of Justice has not charged Abrego Garcia for any crime linked to gangs and its alleged memberships MS-13 were challenged in court.
Katherine Faulders of ABC News contributed to this report.
It is a story in development. Please check the updates.
