Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) seems to be walking back his support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant now accused of operating within a violent smuggling and trafficking network.
Van Hollen drew national attention earlier this year after flying to El Salvador to meet personally with Garcia, a man previously deported under the Trump administration amid accusations of MS-13 affiliation, human trafficking, and domestic abuse.
Garcia had been detained by federal immigration authorities on March 13 and was one of nearly 230 individuals deported to El Salvador two days later.
Despite the serious allegations against him, Van Hollen remained closely involved with the case, even maintaining contact with Garcia’s wife and lobbying for his return to the U.S.
The senator painted Garcia as one of many victims of what he called President Trump’s targeting of “vulnerable people.”
“This is an example of the much bigger challenge, no doubt about it,” Van Hollen told the New York Times in April. “Because my view is when you start picking on the most vulnerable people, and you push and push and push, and you get away with it, then you take the next bite.”
After months of ignoring our Constitution, it seems the Trump Admin has relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and due process for Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
This has never been about the man—it’s about his constitutional rights & the rights of all.
Full statement: pic.twitter.com/q28RLNEj2S
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) June 6, 2025
However, with new charges now coming from U.S. authorities, Van Hollen appears to be shifting his stance.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that Abrego Garcia is being extradited back to the U.S. to face trafficking and smuggling charges.
The Department of Justice has released a detailed 10-page indictment accusing Garcia of extensive criminal activity, including gang violence, arms and narcotics trafficking, and the abuse of women and children.
In light of the revelations, Van Hollen attempted to reframe his prior involvement. “This has never been about the man — it’s about his constitutional rights and the rights of all,” he wrote in a statement on X, distancing himself from the individual he had once fiercely advocated for.
Bondi’s statement outlined the gravity of the accusations. “This is especially disturbing … Garcia, is also alleged with transporting minor children. The defendant traded the innocence of minor children for profit. There are even more disturbing facts that the grand jury uncovered,” she said.
According to the indictment, Garcia is connected to a deadly smuggling ring tied to a 2021 tragedy in which more than 50 migrants lost their lives after a tractor-trailer overturned in Mexico.
.@AGPamBondi details the disturbing findings of a grand jury that Kilmar Abrego Garcia transported minor children as part of an illegal alien smuggling ring: "The defendant traded the innocence of minor children for profit." pic.twitter.com/cW6lH0757E
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 6, 2025
Bondi noted that Garcia was involved in a network that routinely abused undocumented women and transported dangerous individuals, including MS-13 members, across the country.
“It is alleged this defendant is part of the same smuggling ring responsible for the death of more than 50 migrants in 2021 after the tractor-trailer overturned in Mexico. This is part of that same ring,” she stated.
“The defendant abused undocumented alien females, according to co-conspirators who were under his control while transporting them throughout our country. This defendant trafficked firearms and narcotics throughout our country on multiple occasions,” Bondi added.
“They were using vehicles, SUVs with added seats in the back, floors that had been ripped out, guns, narcotics, children, women, MS-13 members. That is what the grand jury found.”
Bondi revealed allegations that Garcia solicited explicit content from a minor and was potentially involved in the murder of a rival gang member’s mother.
“A co-conspirator alleged that the defendant solicited nude photographs and videos of a minor. A co-conspirator also alleges the defendant played a role in the murder of a rival gang member’s mother. These facts demonstrate Abrego Garcia is a danger to our community.”
Legal experts are casting doubt on the wisdom of pushing for Garcia’s return to the U.S. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz criticized the strategy during a segment on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren.”
“I think it was a big mistake for him and his supporters to try to bring him back to the country,” Dershowitz said.
“He’ll regret that. He’d have been a lot better off if he had made the following motion, if he had said ‘Look I’m deportable, and I don’t want to come back into the country.’”
Dershowitz also pointed out that Garcia may have had a better legal outcome had he requested relocation to a safer third country.
“Just don’t send me to a country that poses danger. Send me to Argentina,” he said. “He might have won that case, and he would be a free man. Now he’s going to, if he’s convicted, spend a lot of time in prison, and he’s going to wish he had been deported.”
Van Hollen has made a fool of himself many times over this illegals deportation. Now he claims it was “not about the man, but the Constitution”. Maybe Van Hollen should take a class about the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. legal codes and accompanying statutes. This foreigner is and illegal alien in the U.S. illegally. He is not a U.S. citizen and not only has no right to be in the U.S. but also has no rights to protection under the U.S. Constitution. NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WHATSOEVER. Van Hollen should be expelled from Congress for being an incompetent government official and an ignorant arrogant moron.