Democrats just took another loss on immigration optics—this time, 2,000 miles south. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to visit deported man Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a man accused of MS-13 gang affiliation. His visit, joined by Reps. Robert Garcia and Maxwell Frost, was framed as a “welfare check.” The problem? It turned into a political embarrassment.
Ábrego García entered the U.S. illegally at 16 and was deported under the Trump administration using the Alien Enemies Act. The Supreme Court has already ruled that the judge who originally ordered his return lacked jurisdiction. Still, Democrats pressed forward with a trip that critics argue was all about media optics—not the rule of law.
El Salvador’s government, under President Nayib Bukele, refused to allow Ábrego García’s return—and wouldn’t even grant Van Hollen a conversation. At a press conference, Van Hollen confirmed, “I asked the vice-president if I could meet with Mr Ábrego García. And he said, well, you need to make earlier provisions to go visit Cecot… I said, I’m not interested at this moment in taking a tour of Cecot, I just want to meet with Mr Ábrego García. He said he was not able to make that happen.”
While America’s border is finally being brought back under control—with strong policies in motion to further secure it—Democrat leaders were busy using taxpayer resources to fly overseas and advocate for a foreign national accused of gang ties. The trip achieved nothing—except sparking even more questions about where their priorities really lie.
It’s another clear contrast between Trump’s America First agenda and the modern left’s endless sympathy tour for non-citizens.