Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is traveling to El Salvador to seek the release of a man wrongfully deported from his state. And the Trump administration has gone on the offensive, sending a blast email about immigrants in his state and trying to turn his efforts into a meme.
Van Hollen flew to El Salvador Wednesday morning to discuss the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old man who was mistakenly deported in March. Van Hollen said in social media posts that he hopes “to meet with senior government officials” to discuss Abrego Garcia’s return.
To the chagrin of the Trump administration, Van Hollen’s efforts have gained traction on social media. Now, the White House is launching a full-fledged campaign against the senator, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasting Van Hollen for trying to free a “violent MS-13 gang member” in a post to X.
The Trump administration accused Abrego Garcia of being part of MS-13, a Salvadoran gang that the Trump administration is targeting as part of its massive crackdown on immigrants.
Abrego Garcia, though, has never been convicted or charged with a crime. He is married to a U.S. citizen and has three children.
In 2019, a judge granted Abrego Garcia a “withholding of removal” status, which allowed him to legally live and work in the country. Claims of his ties to MS-13 have been disputed.
Following Abrego Garcia’s deportation, his wife filed a lawsuit on March 24 against the United States in Maryland District Court. In a court filing, the Trump administration conceded that the deportation was an “administrative error” but said they would not return him.
On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 vote against the Trump administration, adding that the “United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the remove to El Salvador was therefore illegal.”
“The Trump Admin admitted in court that it made an ‘error’ in abducting Mr. Abrego Garcia,” Van Hollen posted Tuesday. “Every second they ignore the court order to facilitate his return is another second of agony for his family.”
On April 14, El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele visited the White House and said he would not assist in returning Abrego Garcia, calling him a “terrorist” and asking how he’s supposed to “smuggle” the man back into the country.
Now, with the two most important stakeholders denying Abrego Garcia help, Van Hollen is trying to raise awareness.
The Trump administration is responding by mocking his trip. On Wednesday, prior to Van Hollen boarding his flight, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan criticized the Maryland senator, calling the trip “disgusting” on Fox & Friends.
“Rather than taking care of the constituents in his state, the victims of illegal crime in his state, he’s going to run to El Salvador to protect an MS-13 terrorist,” Homan said. “It’s just disgusting.”
The White House sent out a press briefing Wednesday afternoon asking, “Where’s Chris Van Hollen’s concern for Americans brutalized by illegal immigrant crime?”
The email, which was sent to Daily Dot, claimed that Van Hollen “didn’t even bother to contact” the family of Rachel Morin, a woman who was raped and murdered along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. Her killer, a Salvadoran immigrant, was convicted yesterday.
The White House also brought Morin’s mother to Leavitt’s press conference today, while launching into a tirade against Abrego Garcia, saying he will “never be a Maryland father ever again.”
“Where was his concern when an accused killer was allowed to roam free due to the so-called “sanctuary” policies of his state’s second-most populous county?” the email from the White House asked. “Van Hollen didn’t say a word about the radical policies that put his constituents at risk.”
The email goes on to list a “tiny sample of the criminal illegal immigrants arrested by ICE in Maryland in recent days.” The nine names are accused of various crimes and MS-13 ties, including sex trafficking and attempted first-degree murder.
The Trump War Room X account, which is not affiliated with the White House but was used for the president’s 2024 campaign, also shared a “new meme template of the MS-13 loving Senator Cuck Van Hollen.”
The account took a photo Van Hollen originally shared on Instagram on Sept. 10, 2015 of the senator holding a sign referring to ending gun violence that reads “Dear Mr. Speaker, I feel angry. Let us vote! Stop the Carnage!”
The Trump War Room version made the sign blank and prompted “memers” to “do your thing.”
At the time of writing, the post had over 250 comments. The meme response ranged from Van Hollen holding a sign that says “Please remind me who I work for again…” to one that reads “I hate Americans” and another with a heart-shaped cutout to show an MS-13 member.
“He’s about to be cooked,” commented @MrJokerCPoC.
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