BREAKING: United States Senator Going to El Salvador Tomorrow to try Meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia

In a stunning escalation of the constitutional crisis surrounding the wrongful deportation of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen has announced that he will travel to El Salvador tomorrow to try to speak with Abrego Garcia directly—after weeks of stonewalling and silence from the Trump administration.

This story is developing—and the stakes could not be higher. If you value independent reporting that holds power to account, consider becoming a paid subscriber today.

This comes on the heels of a federal judge ordering what she called an “intense” two-week inquiry into the administration’s refusal to comply with a Supreme Court mandate to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

“We’re going to move,” Judge Paula Xinis said from the bench. “There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding.”

Judge Xinis’s order is nothing short of a judicial fire alarm. She sharply criticized the Department of Justice for its evasive filings and said the administration’s interpretation of the word “facilitate”—a key term in the Supreme Court’s ruling—“doesn’t make any sense,” especially not in light of the high court’s unequivocal language. As she reminded the government:

“You made your jurisdictional arguments. You made your venue arguments. You made your arguments on the merits. You lost. This is now about the scope of the remedy.”

And the scope is fast-moving. Judge Xinis made clear that depositions of key officials—including DHS, ICE, and State Department personnel—must happen by April 23, and she is personally willing to accommodate those depositions on weekends or at odd hours if necessary. “Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments,” she said. “I’m usually pretty good about that … Not this time.”

That urgency is reflected in Van Hollen’s travel plans. In a statement, the senator said he feels a “moral and constitutional obligation” to determine whether Abrego Garcia is safe—and whether there is any intention by the U.S. government to comply with a lawful order to return him home.

The Biden-appointed judge’s firm stance and Van Hollen’s planned trip are now the clearest signs yet that federal lawmakers and the judiciary are preparing to escalate their pressure on an executive branch that seems determined to test the limits of defiance.

And let’s be clear: this is not just about one man. It’s about the rule of law, about the limits of executive power, and about whether the courts have any real authority when the president of the United States decides they don’t.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported under Donald Trump’s revived Alien Enemies Act program. Despite a unanimous Supreme Court ruling confirming that his removal was unlawful, the Trump administration has made clear it has no plans to help bring him back.

In fact, senior White House officials have twisted the Court’s language to suggest they only need to “facilitate” his return if El Salvador voluntarily releases him—and even then, they say they might just deport him again.

Sen. Van Hollen’s trip may not change that. But it will put a human face on a legal standoff that has become emblematic of a broader authoritarian drift. If he’s able to speak with Abrego Garcia, it may also bring clarity about the conditions of his detention inside El Salvador’s infamous CECOT mega-prison—and whether the U.S. is complicit in his continued confinement.

For now, the message from the judiciary is clear: the rule of law still stands, and delay will not be tolerated.

And from Van Hollen: that the Senate will not sit idly by while an American resident is left to rot in a foreign prison, the Constitution be damned.