Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. denies “Margarita Gate” photos after a trip to El Salvador

Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-MD. , says the margarita was a fake. He says anger is real.

He was deported from a very public trip to El Salvador Illegal immigration Kilmer Abrego Garcia and Van Hollen addressed reporters Thursday after landing at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He tried to set the record straight for what is now called “Margarita Gate,” a viral photo posted by Salvadora’s President Naive Bukere.

“Let me be very clear,” Van Hollen said. “Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us, and if you want to play a bit of Sherlock Holmes, it tells us how you can know about it.

“Nobody drank margaritas, sugar water, whatever it was, nobody drank it.”

Kilmer Abrego Garcia is suspected of human trafficking in a report obtained by Fox News

Van Hollen claimed that the glasses were placed after the meeting began as a gradual photo shoot, adding that earlier footage showed a drinkless table. Van Hollen is with President Naive Buquere of El Salvador. Trump administration To try and distract him from what he described as a constitutional crisis.

“This is a lengthy lesson that President Bukel makes to deceive people,” Van Hollen said. “And that also shows the length of time the Trump administration and the president go, because when he was asked by a reporter about this, he just went on a ride.”

Trump has his own view, saying, “Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen looks like a fool standing in El Salvador yesterday, pleading for attention to the fake news media, or anyone.

The controversy comes from the case of Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvador national who was deported from Maryland last month and placed in the country’s infamous Cecot prison.

White House photos show how political parties stand in immigrants amid Abrego Garcia’s deportation

Federal authorities have called deportation “an administrative error” in court. Van Hollen and other Democrats argued that it violated Garcia’s constitutional rights to the legitimate process.

However, the Trump administration has pushed back, pointing to Garcia’s alleged domestic abuse, gang connections and alleged involvement in human trafficking.

Garcia’s 2022 Homeland Security Survey Report Members of MS-13 There is a suspected human trafficker. The 2021 domestic violence application written by his wife Jennifer Vasquez claimed “I have multiple photos/videos about how violent he is and all the bruises he left with me.”

Despite these reports, Van Hollen has argued that no evidence has been presented in court and removal is illegal. He cited a decision by the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Supreme Court ordering the return of Garcia.

“In this case, the government, the Trump administration, is claiming the right to hide the residents of this country in foreign prisons, without similar due process,” Van Hollen said, citing a recent Fourth Circuit decision. “That is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

He added that federal judge, Judge Paula Sinis, who first reviewed the case, found the administration “did not provide evidence linking Abrego Garcia with MS-13 or terrorist activities.”

However, Trump has vehemently defended his deportation. In the Truth Society and X post, he said Democrats are demanding that they have a history of return and violence for those with gang bonds, and that they have a photo of the MS-13 gangster signs allegedly showing Garcia’s fist tattooed on his knuckle.

In his post, President Trump “This is the hand of those who feel the Democrats should bring back to the US. They said they are not a member of the MS-13, despite being tattooed on his knuckles.

Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador this week after the Salvador government first denied access to Garcia. After the report, authorities arranged a meeting at the hotel and filmed it, he said. He said that Salvador soldiers stopped him from approaching prison earlier, and he was surprised by his permission to meet him at last minute.

He also said the US has committed $15 million to El Salvador to support detention work, with more than $4 million already being paid. Van Hollen argued that the funds were fraudulent and that they had pledged to oppose future spending.

“I don’t support the use of a penny of taxpayers’ dollars to continue to illegally detain Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” he said.

Critics, including Republicans and Trump’s allies, have questioned why Van Hollen travels abroad to defend those allegedly gang ties and those with domestic abuse records, and remain silent about victims like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman killed by illegal immigrants in 2023.

White House A sharp contrast was drawn by lining up photos of Trump alongside Morin’s mother and Trump meeting Abrego Garcia. Caption: “We’re not the same.”

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Asked about the comparison, Van Hollen said that his “heart breaking” for Morin’s family defended his actions as if they were constitutional.

“The reason we have a court is to punish a guilty, but to make sure that the person who has not committed the crime is guilty and is not detained intentionally,” he said.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf, David Spant, Greg Norman, Greg Weiner and Bill Mears contributed to this report.