Dem Senator Trolled Hard After Sipping Margaritas With Deported MS-13 Member [WATCH]

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is facing growing backlash after images surfaced showing him meeting with deported alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia while appearing to drink margaritas during a trip to El Salvador.

The meeting, which took place Thursday, was part of Van Hollen’s ongoing push to pressure the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States.

Abrego Garcia, who first entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was deported on March 15 and placed in El Salvador’s CECOT supermax prison, a high-security facility for gang-affiliated inmates.

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Photos of the senator with Abrego Garcia, shared by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, sparked immediate online outrage.

Bukele posted, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture,’ now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”

Several Trump-aligned accounts, including Libs of TikTok, shared the image and accused Van Hollen of trying to hide the optics.

One user responded directly to the senator’s post on X, writing, “How were those margaritas??? President Bukele posted this one. No hiding the truth from America.”

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Van Hollen has not commented publicly on the drink images, but in his official post he said he had contacted Abrego Garcia’s wife “to pass along his message of love.”

Hardworking Marylanders—how many of you have ever been treated to dinner by Senator Van Hollen or any other Democrat senator? Ever had them sit down with you to hear your struggles?
How many of them have personally fought for your job, your safety, your family’s future—with the… pic.twitter.com/qRKzduzqFv

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 18, 2025

The visit followed Van Hollen’s unsuccessful attempt earlier that day to access CECOT to check on Abrego Garcia’s status.

According to Van Hollen, soldiers at a checkpoint approximately two miles from the prison blocked his motorcade, citing orders not to allow entry.

Abrego Garcia was arrested in March and deported despite an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling allowing him to remain in the U.S. due to threats from gangs in El Salvador.

While that ruling blocked deportation specifically to El Salvador, the Trump administration has said the deportation was an error, but not one it is legally required to reverse.

The case has reignited legal battles, with a federal court panel on Thursday denying the Trump administration’s motion to halt a lower court’s order requiring sworn testimony from officials about the deportation.

In its ruling, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the government’s position “should be shocking to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, said, “It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all.”

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, previously filed a 2021 domestic violence petition citing multiple alleged incidents of abuse.

The Trump administration maintains that Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang and poses a threat to public safety. “Chris Van Hollen has firmly established Democrats as the party whose top priority is the welfare of an illegal alien MS-13 terrorist. It is truly disgusting,” Trump administration spokesman Kush Desai told DailyMail.com.

“President Trump will continue to stand on the side of law-abiding Americans.”

In the Oval Office on Monday, President Trump and President Bukele jointly addressed the controversy.

Bukele stated, “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him.”

Trump backed Bukele’s stance and encouraged him to build more prison space to hold gang members deported from the U.S.

Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody 🇺🇸🤝🏼🇸🇻 https://t.co/2xVt4SNOGn

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025

Meanwhile, victims of gang violence are also speaking out.

Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin—who was murdered by an illegal immigrant—condemned Van Hollen’s efforts.

“He did not call our family, he did not give condolences. There was no action from the Democratic party in any way,” she said during a Fox News appearance. “I’m outraged.”

Angel Mom Patty Morin SLAMS Senator @ChrisVanHollen: “I’m actually outraged… He did not call our family; he did not give condolences. There was no action… in Maryland none of the Senators did anything to help search for the murderer of my daughter.” pic.twitter.com/kmB8kDqXgH

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 16, 2025

Rachel Morin’s killer, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, was found guilty this week of first-degree murder, rape, and kidnapping.

Despite a Supreme Court order directing the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, Trump officials continue to assert there is no legal or logistical pathway to bring him back from a foreign prison—and no will to do so.

We are not the same. pic.twitter.com/yTUoSXmCBa

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 18, 2025

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