{"id":2425865,"date":"2025-04-21T16:20:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T20:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leavitt-blasts-support-for-abrego-garcia-shame-on-sen-chris-van-hollen\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T16:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T20:22:04","slug":"leavitt-blasts-support-for-abrego-garcia-shame-on-sen-chris-van-hollen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leavitt-blasts-support-for-abrego-garcia-shame-on-sen-chris-van-hollen\/","title":{"rendered":"Leavitt blasts support for Abrego Garcia: &#8216;Shame on Sen. Chris Van Hollen&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fleavitt-blasts-support-for-abrego-garcia-shame-on-sen-chris-van-hollen%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2425865&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) for his visit to El Salvador, were he met wiht deported immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has been linked to the MS-13 gang. Leavitt accused Van hollen of wasting Easter Sunday promoting Garcia&#8217;s return, labeling him an &#8220;illegal alien&#8221; and a &#8220;foreign terrorist.&#8221; Van Hollen defended his trip, stating it aimed to advocate for Garcia&#8217;s constitutional rights, and emphasized that he was joined in this effort by Pope Francis, who has called for compassion toward immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute centers on Garcia&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/250-years-ago-alexander-hamilton-told-us-how-to-handle-these-anti-trump-judges\/\" title=\"250 Years Ago Alexander Hamilton Told Us How to Handle These Anti-Trump Judges\">alleged gang affiliation<\/a> and criminal record, which some Democratic lawmakers contest.Leavitt pointed out that two courts have identified Garcia as an MS-13 member. She stressed that the majority of Americans support the deportation of criminals and highlighted the impact of illegal immigration on victims&#8217; families, referencing the case of Patty Morin, whose daughter was murdered by an illegal immigrant. The article indicates a growing divide in opinions about immigration and the handling of individuals associated with criminal activity within the context of broader immigration policy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Karoline Leavitt blasts support for Abrego Garcia: &lsquo;Shame on Sen. Chris Van Hollen&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2101479\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>White House press secretary <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/karoline-leavitt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Karoline Leavitt<\/a> slammed Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3384229\/van-hollen-meets-abrego-garcia-el-salvador-failed-attempts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Chris Van Hollen\">Chris Van Hollen<\/a> (D-MD) for flying to El Salvador to meet with deported immigrant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3385767\/house-democrats-el-salvador-visit-abrego-garcia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Kilmar Abrego Garcia \">Kilmar Abrego Garcia<\/a>, adding how the senator &ldquo;wasted Easter Sunday&rdquo; giving interviews about their meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Van Hollen went to El Salvador last week to visit the Salvadoran immigrant outside of the country&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/el-salvadors-crime-crackdown-could-push-gangs-north-toward-u-s-expert-warns\/\" title=\"El Salvador\u2019s Crime Crackdown Could Push ...s North Toward U.S., Expert Warns\">terrorism confinement center<\/a>, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, referred to as&nbsp;CECOT. The senator said the &ldquo;main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,&rdquo; and he spoke with Abrego Garcia&rsquo;s wife, Jennifer, about his condition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3386445\/melania-trump-kindness-book-reading-children-white-house-easter-egg-roll\/\">Melania Trump promotes kindness while reading to children at White House Easter egg roll<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3386026\/secret-service-white-house-replica-defense-training\/\">Secret Service to create replica White House for defense training<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3386094\/kristi-noem-purse-stolen-dc-grandchildren-easter-dinner\/\">Kristi Noem robbed in DC while taking grandchildren to Easter dinner<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;They should know the truth&nbsp;about this man.&nbsp;He is an illegal alien, a foreign terrorist and a criminal MS-13 gang member who&nbsp;violated our country&rsquo;s laws by&nbsp;coming here in the first place,&rdquo; Leavitt said of Abrego Garcia on Fox News&rsquo;s <em>Fox &amp; Friends<\/em> on Monday.&nbsp;&ldquo;Shame on Sen. Chris Van&nbsp;Hollen and the entire Democrat&nbsp;Party who wasted Easter Sunday&nbsp;going on every television show&nbsp;in the country to advocate for the return of&nbsp;illegal criminal gang member.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PressSec<\/a>: &#8220;Shame on Senator <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisVanHollen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ChrisVanHollen<\/a> and the entire Democrat Party &mdash; who wasted Easter Sunday going on every television show in the country to advocate for the return of an illegal criminal gang member.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oexevLCw3A\">pic.twitter.com\/oexevLCw3A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapidResponse47\/status\/1914296547015065913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Democratic lawmakers have disputed Abrego Garcia&rsquo;s gang affiliation. Leavitt pointed out that two different courts, along with the testimonies of immigration officials, found Abrego Garcia to be an MS-13 member. The Salvadorian was arrested in 2019 along with two other confirmed members of MS-13. He was wearing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3383009\/full-story-kilmar-abrego-garcia-illegal-immigrant-el-salvador\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Chicago Bulls hat\">Chicago Bulls hat<\/a> in 2019, a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">common gang uniform<\/a>, and photographed with tattoos on his hand that are associated to the gang.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I would add that the overwhelming majority of&nbsp;Americans continue to support deportation of&nbsp;criminals,&rdquo; Leavitt said. &ldquo;So, the president will continue to do that while&nbsp;Democrats trip over themselves&nbsp;while ignoring American citizens&nbsp;whose lives have been forever impacted&nbsp;by the actions and the crimes of these illegal criminals,&nbsp;like Patty Morin.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Patty Morin is the mother of Rachel Morin, who was murdered last year. A Maryland jury convicted Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant, of her murder. Her mother claimed that Van Hollen hasn&rsquo;t ever bothered to call her since the death of her daughter.<\/p>\n<p>Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele committed to keeping Abrego Garcia, as the Trump administration classified him as a member of MS-13. This is a fact that even Van Hollen&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3385603\/van-hollen-abrego-garcia-ms13-gang-member\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">avoided disputing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The senator has continued to defend his trip, which was funded by taxpayer dollars. Abrego Garcia has since been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-memo\/3385290\/democrats-framing-abrego-garcia-case-van-hollen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">moved<\/a>&nbsp;to another undisclosed prison.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Trump&rsquo;s cronies said we &lsquo;wasted Easter Sunday&rsquo; in discussing Mr. Abrego Garcia &amp; their violation of his constitutional rights,&rdquo; Van Hollen wrote on X on Monday. &ldquo;We were in good company w\/ Pope Francis, who on Easter decried &lsquo;contempt&rsquo; for immigrants &amp; has called on them to do better.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trump&rsquo;s cronies said we &ldquo;wasted Easter Sunday&rdquo; in discussing Mr. Abrego Garcia &amp; their violation of his constitutional rights. We were in good company w\/ Pope Francis, who on Easter decried &ldquo;contempt&rdquo; for immigrants &amp; has called on them to do better. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FXmOHYPLXb\">https:\/\/t.co\/FXmOHYPLXb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisVanHollen\/status\/1914365713881444575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3385767\/house-democrats-el-salvador-visit-abrego-garcia\/\"><strong>FOUR HOUSE DEMOCRATS FLY TO EL SALVADOR TO VISIT ABREGO GARCIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3386465\/pope-francis-cause-of-death-cerebral-stroke-heart-failure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Pope Francis died early Monday\">Pope Francis died early Monday<\/a> of a cerebral stroke that put him in a coma and led to irreversible heart failure.<\/p>\n<p>In the months leading up to his death, Francis&nbsp;named Cardinal&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/75078\/sf-archbishop-who-banned-pelosi-from-communion-passed-over-in-cardinal-assignment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robert McElroy<\/a>&nbsp;to be the archbishop over&nbsp;Washington, D.C., on the anniversary of Jan. 6. This was also notably days before Trump was inaugurated. McElroy, 70, was previously the outspoken bishop from San Diego who criticized Trump&rsquo;s deportation plans since his first term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2101479\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2101479\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karoline Leavitt criticizes Sen. Chris Van Hollen for meeting deported immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, claiming he &#8220;wasted Easter Sunday&#8221; on interviews about it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2631,"featured_media":2425866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25105635844232.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[53291,53422,50576],"class_list":["post-2425865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abrego-garcia","tag-chris-van-hollen","tag-leavitt-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25105635844232.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2425865"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425869,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2425865\/revisions\/2425869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2425866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2425865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2425865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2425865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}