Van Hollen met with Abrego Garcia, who lived in Maryland, on Thursday evening after several failed attempts to speak with him.

“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,” the senator wrote on X on Thursday night, with a photo of them talking. “Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”

The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia on March 15 to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, in violation of a standing court order that protected him from deportation to the country due to a gang threat he faced there. A government lawyer wrote in a court filing that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.”

The Department of Homeland Security targeted Abrego Garcia for deportation due to his alleged MS-13 ties. On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi released 13 pages of police and immigration records on Abrego Garcia dating back to 2019.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

Local authorities apprehended Abrego Garcia in 2019 in a Home Depot parking lot while he engaged with known MS-13 gang members, who were dressed in MS-13-affiliated clothing. An informant who had “provided truthful, accurate information in the past” had identified Abrego Garcia as an active MS-13 gang member. Abrego Garcia disputed the claim. An immigration judge ruled that the informant’s information was “proven and reliable,” but Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador. 

A federal judge ruled the Trump administration must “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States by April 7, which the Justice Department appealed. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower court’s ruling that the Trump administration must work to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.