This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The fight rages on over whether an illegal alien deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador can be extricated from that prison and returned to America.
El Salvador's president says no.
Further, whether judges in America can force President Trump to go into a foreign nation, retrieve one of its citizens from behind jail bars, and bring him back to America in a scenario that likely would lead to further deportation orders.
Amid all of this, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, traveled to El Salvador and insisted to officials there he had to meet with the inmate, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, pressuring them over and over until they relented and set up a photo opportunity.
Now, Trump is calling Van Hollen a "fool."
The Washington Examiner said Trump's comment on social media was, "Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!"
President Trump, citing the catastrophic damages to America from Joe Biden's years-long open borders scheme that allowed millions of illegal aliens, including known terrorists, to come into America, has made one of his term's goals to crack down on that activity.
He's literally closed off illegal aliens' paths into the U.S., and also has been working to deport as many as can be identified and captured.
Democrats, smarting from landslide losses in the Electoral College and popular vote in last fall's presidential election, have chosen to object to anything Trump does regarding national security.
As part of that, they have taken up the cause of Garcia, who was eligible for deportation but apparently had a court order that he should not go to El Salvador.
Van Hollen said, "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."
The Department of Homeland Security targeted Abrego Garcia for deportation due to his alleged MS-13 ties. On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi released 13 pages of police and immigration records on Garcia dating back to 2019, revealing suspicions against him of human trafficking, gang activity, and more.
A federal judge has claimed the Trump administration must "facilitate and effectuate" Garcia's return to the United States by April 7, a claim that is on appeal.
Eventually, the meeting was staged, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele mocked the senator.
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture', now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!"
Bukele added, "Now that he's been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador's custody."
The backlash for Van Hollen's advocacy for an illegal alien is expanding, too.
The American Accountability Foundation said it had filed an ethics complaint against him "for assisting a foreign terrorist organization with his trip to El Salvador."
"In our letter to Leader Thune, we demand that he instruct the secretary of the Senate not to foot the bill for Van Hollen's trip and wants the Senate Ethics Committee to open an immediate investigation," the organization said.
