Maryland Sen. Van Hollen defends support for Kilmar Abrego Garcia after criticism from mother of Rachel Morin
In an interview with CNN, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen responded to criticism from the mother of Rachel Morin about his advocacy for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month.
Last week, Rachel Morin's mother, Patty Morin, spoke from the White House briefing room, questioning Van Hollen's motives after he traveled to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia.
Rachel Morin was raped and murdered while walking along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air. Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an El Salvador native, was found guilty of Rachel Morin's murder on April 15.
"To have a senator from Maryland who didn't even acknowledge, or barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death she endured, leaving her five children without a mother and now a grandbaby without a grandmother so he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that's not even an American citizen?" Patty Morin said.
Van Hollen responds on CNN
Van Hollen addressed the backlash on CNN on Monday night.
"What happened to Rachel Morin was awful," he said. "What happened to the Morin family should not happen to any family in America."
"I can't imagine the pain of losing a child," he said. "The killer was recently convicted in a court of law. That's what our courts are for— to punish the guilty and to protect the rights of the innocent."
Van Hollen said he was glad to see justice in Morin's case.
"I did say at the time how horrible it was," he said. "My heart went out to the Morin family. When the conviction came down, I said, 'This is exactly right. Someone guilty should be punished.'"
Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador
Abrego Garcia was deported in what U.S. immigration officials called an "administrative error." He had been working as a sheetmetal apprentice in Baltimore when he was taken into custody.
He was originally held at CECOT, a high-security prison. But Van Hollen said he has since been moved to a lower-security facility in Santa Ana. According to court records, he's now in the administration building at Centro Industrial. There, he has his room with a bed and furniture, not a prison cell.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that Garcia was transferred eight days before Van Hollen's visit.
Advocating for due process in Abrego Garcia's case
Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia's case is different because it's about due process.
Although Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally, he was granted a withholding of removal order by a judge in 2019. That order prevented Abrego Garcia from being deported back to El Salvador due to concerns that he would be targeted by gangs over his family's business.
"In this other case, Kilmar Garcia's constitutional rights need to be respected," he said. "Our courts punish the guilty—but they also protect everyone's rights."
"I'm not going to spend a dollar of taxpayer money to go to El Salvador to keep somebody in prison there, who the Trump administration itself admitted was wrongfully deported," Van Hollen told CNN.
Last week, Van Hollen said the Salvadoran government "tried really hard" to block the meeting. Still, he was able to speak with Abrego Garcia.
In an interview with Face The Nation, Van Hollen referred to Abrego Garcia's deportation as "an abduction without due process."
"When you trample on the constitutional rights of one man," Van Hollen said, "you trample on the rights of every American."
