Speaking to Fox News, Patty Morin questioned why Maryland Sen. Van Hollen didn't show the same outcry when her daughter, Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was killed by an El Salvadoran foreign national who had been illegally residing in Maryland. This after Van Hollen was captured in photos "sipping margaritas" with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador on Thursday, who was deported to CEDOT, the country's Terrorism Confinement Center.
"There's been more than one murder here in Harford County," said Morin. "There was Kayla Hamilton...there was my daughter. At the time, [Senator Van Hollen] knew that they were immigrants who were in the country illegally. They broke federal law, and they committed violent crimes. And yet, there was no outcry. Now, I have a Senator who's in El Salvador, who is loudly advocating for another illegal immigrant."
Morin's remarks came in response to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sharing photos on X of Sen. Van Hollen sitting at a restaurant with Abrego Garcia on Thursday. He wrote in the caption of the post: "Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture,' now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!"
"Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody," Bukele said in a follow-up post.
Sen. Van Hollen posted about his meeting with Abrego Garcia on X, writing, "I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. 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."
Critics have questioned Senator Van Hollen's decision to fly to a foreign nation to meet with an accused MS-13 gang member while he failed to meet with and fight for the relatives of victims killed by illegal aliens in the state where he is a leader of.
It has since been revealed that in addition to foreign gang ties, Kilmar Abrego Garcia allegedly beat his wife, Jennifer, in a domestic violence incident that prompted her to file for a temporary protection order. He was also previously believed to be engaged in human trafficking after he was pulled over for a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022.
Despite the outcry from Democrats over his deportation, Abrego Garcia reportedly told US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that he didn't fear being returned to El Salvador. Democrats claimed that he was fearful of being killed by a rival gang if he were sent back to his home country.
