U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is requesting a meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to demand the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia — a known MS-13 gang member deported to El Salvador. Abrego-Garcia, who a judge has found to be a member of the MS-13 gang, was removed as the result of an administrative error, according to ICE officials. Van Hollen has promised to travel to El Salvador if Abrego-Garcia is not returned.
In a letter to Milena Mayorga, Salvadoran Ambassador to the United States, Van Hollen wrote, “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Mr. Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador. On Saturday evening, in a court filing to a federal judge in Maryland, the Trump administration confirmed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being held in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, according to Michael G. Kozak, a senior official in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. However, they did not detail steps that have been taken to facilitate his return, as mandated by the Supreme Court.”
In a statement concerning the requested meeting, the Democrat Senator from Maryland asserts, “Garcia should have never been abducted and illegally deported, and the courts have made clear: the Administration must bring him home, now.”
Abrego-Garcia remains at the center of the debate. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the 29-year-old Salvadoran national entered the United States illegally. In the years since his entry, Abrego-Garcia has married a United States citizen and has three children, also United States citizens.
In 2019, the federal government chose to initiate deportation proceedings against Abrego-Garcia. During a bond redetermination hearing where Abrego-Garcia sought to gain his release from ICE custody, authorities fought to keep Abrego-Garcia in detention, asserting he was a member of the notorious Salvadoran MS-13 gang, also known as the Mara Salvatrucha.
A court filing in his current case shows that the administrative immigration judge hearing Abrego-Garcia’s original bond hearing ruled against his release, noting that the evidence presented showed he was a verified member of the criminal gang and a flight risk. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed that decision during an appeal filed by Abrego-Garcia’s attorney.
According to the same filing document, on October 10, 2019, an Immigration Judge ordered Abrego-Garcia’s removal from the United States but granted withholding of removal to El Salvador. The grant of protection prohibited his removal to El Salvador.
On March 12, 2025, court documents show Abrego-Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents due to his prominent role in the MS-13 gang. Within days of his arrest, Abrego-Garcia was taken to a staging area for a removal flight to El Salvador and, although not on the original manifest, was mistakenly placed on the flight as an alternate, according to an ICE official.
Upon arrival in El Salvador, Abrego-Garcia was placed in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Abrego-Garcia’s attorney filed a federal lawsuit requesting the return of Abrego-Garcia to the United States. Federal District Judge Paula Xinis ordered Abrego-Garcia returned to the United States setting a deadline of April 7. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit declined to pause the order of return as the appeal continued.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned decision, has ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego-Garcia. During a White House press conference on Monday, a reporter asked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele if he would return Abrego-Garcia as required by the court. Bukele responded, “How can I do that? I can’t smuggle a terrorist into the United States.”
Bukele’s mention of smuggling a terrorist into the United States is likely a reference to the designation of the MS-13 gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
