Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen turned away from El Salvador prison in push for alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcias return

Sen.Chris Van Hollen was blocked Wednesday from visiting Kilmar Abrego Garcia at the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) mega-prison complex after the Democrat traveled to El Salvador to push for the release of the illegal migrant and purported MS-13 member.Van Hollen (D-Md.), 66, met with the Central American nation’s vice president, Félix Ulloa, and publicly pleaded for Abrego Garcia to be set free.“They should just let him go,” Van Hollen complained to reporters after the meeting.

“I promised them [Abrego Garcia’s family] that I would do everything I could to get him out.”“I won’t stop trying,” he added.“This is an unsustainable and unjust moment.

So it cannot continue this way.”Meanwhile, fresh revelations emerged Wednesday that Abrego Garcia’s wife — who has pushed for his release — pursued a domestic violence restraining order against him in 2021, alleging that he ripped off her shirt, punched her and scratched her.White House officials needled Van Hollen over his advocacy for Abrego Garcia while his own constituents grapple with migrant crime.“The criminal illegal immigrant is already home — he’s a Salvadoran citizen,” the Trump administration said in a statement.

“… [W]here was his [Van Hollen’s] concern for Maryland constituents put at risk by the many other illegal immigrants allowed to roam free until now?”The White House noted the case of Rachel Morin, who was savagely raped and killed by an illegal immigrant in 2023.On Monday, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty by a jury of first-degree rape, first-degree premeditated murder, third-degree sexual assault and kidnapping.“While the conviction of Rachel Morin’s killer will not return Rachel to her family where she rightfully belongs, this verdict brings a measure of justice that they so deserve,” Van Hollen said in a statement Tuesday, the day after the verdict.The Trump administration also highlighted nine other cases in which mi...