In a dramatic international confrontation over immigration policy, US Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has personally visited Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland resident erroneously deported to El Salvador’s maximum-security Cecot prison. The meeting comes amid an escalating legal battle between the Trump administration and federal courts, with Judge Paula Xinis having ruled the March 15 deportation violated a 2019 protection order.
Photos released by Van Hollen’s office show the senator conversing with Ábrego García in the controversial mega-prison, where the Salvadoran government has refused his release despite a US Supreme Court order for repatriation efforts. The White House has doubled down on its position, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declaring Ábrego García “will never live in the United States of America,” while branding Van Hollen’s visit as “disgusting” for allegedly prioritizing an “MS-13 terrorist” over public safety.
Legal representatives maintain their client has no gang affiliations or criminal record, contradicting administration claims linking him to the designated terrorist organization. The case has become emblematic of broader immigration tensions, coinciding with a separate contempt ruling against the administration for unauthorized deportation flights.
Ábrego García’s wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura expressed relief at confirmation of her husband’s survival in custody, though Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sarcastically referenced social media speculation about prison conditions by stating the detainee had “miraculously risen” from alleged “death camps.” The administration’s stance appears reinforced by 2021 domestic violence allegations from Vasquez Sura herself, though she emphasizes they underwent counseling to reconcile.
As legal teams prepare new filings, the standoff continues testing the limits of executive authority over immigration enforcement versus judicial oversight, with Ábrego García’s fate hanging in the balance between competing national agendas.
