White House mocks senator for meeting deported Salvadoran, ‘fixes’ NYT headline: ‘He’s not coming back’

The White House on Friday openly mocked US Senator Chris Van Hollen, for meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and being held in a prison in El Salvador.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen (R) holding a meeting with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a US citizen wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

In a post on X, the White House annotated a headline in the New York Times about Hollen’s meeting with Kimar Garcia.

“Fixed it for you, New York Times,” the White House X account posted. “Oh, and by the way, Chris Van Hollen — he’s NOT coming back.”

The edits made to the headline of the article “Senator meets with wrongly deported Maryland man in El Salvador” included striking out the word “wrongly” in red ink, replacing “Maryland man” with “MS-13 illegal alien,” and adding the phrase “who’s never coming back” at the end.

The Trump administration has acknowledged Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a result of “an administrative error,” saying immigration officials were aware of his protection from deportation, according to the Associated Press. A federal judge has also asked officials to ‘facilitate’ Kilmar Garcia’s return to the United States.

Also Read | Trump paying El Salvador for keeping Kilmar Abrego Garcia in prison? Maryland senator’s big claim

However, Trump officials have described Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, as a “terrorist” and claimed he is a member of the MS-13 gang, even though he was never criminally charged in the U.S. with gang involvement.

“He is not coming back to our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi has said. The case has become a focal point in the immigration debate in the United States.

Senator’s meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen on Friday said that he had met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia at a hotel after initial requests to meet with him were denied.

Also Read | Kilmar Abrego Garcia has ‘history of violence’, punched his wife: Trump admin amid deportation row

Van Hollen, a Democrat, said Abrego Garcia was brought to his hotel before after the lawmaker had tried to go to the notorious CECOT prison for gang members, where Abrego Garcia had been held, reported Reuters.

Hollen claimed that he and the lawyer for Abrego Garcia’s family were pulled over by soldiers 3km outside the prison and told they were not allowed to proceed further.

Later, El Salvadoran officials brought Abrego Garcia to the hotel where Van Hollen was staying.

“He said he was traumatised by being at CECOT,” Van Hollen said he was told by Abrego Garcia, who said he had been put in a cell with 25 other people for weeks and had not spoken to anyone outside of the jail since being detained.