Mother of murdered Maryland woman Rachel Morin questions senator's visit to El Salvador
The mother of Maryland murder victim Rachel Morin questioned the motive of Sen. Chris Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador to meet a man who had been deported.
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was raped and killed by an undocumented migrant from El Salvador in 2023. She was found near the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County on August 6, 2023.
Rachel Morin's mother, Patty Morin, said Sen. Van Hollen "barely acknowledged her daughter."
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of Rachel Morin's murder on April 14. Law enforcement said he fled illegally to the United States after an arrest warrant was issued for a murder in El Salvador.
Patty Morin criticizes Sen. Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador
This week, Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador in an attempt to check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who immigration officials said was deported from Maryland due to an "administrative error." Abrego Garcia has been detained at a supermax prison, CECOT, in El Salvador since March. He was taken into custody when he left his sheetmetal apprenticeship job in Baltimore.
"To have a senator from Maryland who didn't even acknowledge, or barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death she endured, leaving her five children without a mother and now a grandbaby without a grandmother so he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that's not even an American citizen?" Patty Morin said during a visit to the White House on Wednesday. "Why does that person have more right than I do, or my daughter, or my grandchildren?"
Since Rachel Morin's death, Patty Morin has testified on Capitol Hill about the country's immigration policies
On Wednesday, Patty Morin asked reporters at the White House to tell the truth about her daughter's story.
"It's about national security, protecting Americans, protecting our children," she said.
Senator's efforts to check on Abrego Garcia
Sen. Van Hollen said he will fight for Abrego Garcia until he is given his right to due process, adding he may be the first U.S. Senator to visit El Salvador about this issue, but he promises not to be the last.
The senator was turned away at a military checkpoint on Thursday during an attempt to visit Abrego Garcia. However, later, Sen. Van Hollen said he was allowed to meet with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
"We just tried to go visit him in prison just to check on his condition," Van Hollen said on social media. "These soldiers were ordered to prevent us from going any further than this spot. I understand we're about three kilometers now from CECOT."
Sen. Van Hollen said in a press briefing Thursday afternoon that no one has been able to communicate with Abrego Garcia since he was mistakenly deported to his home country of El Salvador.
"I should point out that this inability to communicate with his lawyers is a violation of international law," Van Hollen said.
The AFL-CIO reposted a statement by SMART Labor Union on X, formerly Twitter, saying, "Bring Kilmar home," to show support for Abrego Garcia. SMART Union confirmed that Abrego Garcia was a full-time first-year apprentice.
No plans to return Abrego Garcia to U.S.
The federal government claims Abrego Garcia is connected to the Salvadoran gang MS-13, but his attorneys deny the affiliation. Abrego Garcia has also not been charged with any crime, and his case is separate from the one involving Rachel Morin.
"There is no Maryland father," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday. "Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien, MS-13 gang member, and foreign terrorist who was deported back to his home country."
The Prince George's County Police Department detailed in a "Gang Field Interview sheet" Abrego Garcia's arrest in 2019, which led to his being subject to deportation.
Despite never being charged with a crime, the Trump administration says he has no place in the United States.
"President Bukele said he was not sending him back, that's the end of the story," Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "If he wanted to send him back, we would give him a plane ride back. There was no situation where he was ever going to stay in this country, none. He would have come back, had one extra step of paperwork, and gone back again."
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele also said they don't plan to send Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
"How can I return him to the United States?" Bukele said. "I smuggle him into the United States or what do I do? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous."
Abrego Garcia's alleged link to MS-13 gang
Documents showed that detectives with the Hyattsville City Police Department saw four people "loitering in the parking lot" of the Home Depot, and as they were approached, two of them reached into their waistbands and discarded several unknown items under a parked vehicle.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys said he was soliciting work when he was arrested, and that police did not believe him when he told them he was not a gang member.
The responding detective "immediately recognized" another man, Christhyan Hernandez-Romero, also known as "Bimbo," as a member of the MS-13 Sailors Clique, who was among the group standing outside the Home Depot, according to the report..
The report alleges that Hernandez-Romero had an "extensive criminal history for multiple assaults, concealing dangerous weapons, burglary, and many other criminal offenses." Another man, Jose Guillermo Dominguez, had tattoos of skulls covering his eyes, ears, and mouth, which they believe to be "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture," the report says.
Abrego Garcia, who police said was wearing "a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears, and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations," was interviewed by police. According to the report, police alleged that the clothing was also "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture," and that Abrego Garcia's hat represented that he was a "member in good standing" with the MS-13.
The report showed that police contacted a "past proven" and "reliable" source of information who said Abrego Garcia was an active MS-13 member.
Prince George's County Police claimed in the report that "MS-13 gang members are only allowed to hang around other members or prospects for the gang."
In 2019, an immigration judge ruled that the informant's testimony was "proven and reliable," but said that Abrego Garcia should not be deported to El Salvador.
The report stated that Abrego Garcia has no criminal history.
