Senator warns America on a 'very short road to tyranny'

15 April

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on MSNBC on April 15, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) says he’s not just traveling to El Salvador tomorrow to save a legal U.S. resident: He’s trying to save the U.S. legal system.

“At the end of the day, what they're trying to do is play politics and to scare the American people, and if … bullies can get away with this with vulnerable people, it is a very short road to tyranny for the rest of us,” Van Hollen told MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes of “All In With Chris Hayes.”

Van Hollen is traveling to El Salvador on Wednesday to check on his constituent, U.S. legal resident and father of three Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who U.S. officials admitted was mistakenly deported but who remains detained in a prison there.

The senator said he was prepared to go to El Salvador if Abrego Garcia is not returned to the United States, but the Trump administration appears to have washed its hands of its mistake. Some officials continue to falsely describe Garcia as a criminal despite him having no criminal record, while Trump says he has no power over what happens in El Salvador, despite U.S. judges ordering the administration to return Garcia this week.

Van Hollen says the administration means to use Garcia to send a message to U.S. citizens that anybody can be snatched. The president openly discussed offshoring U.S. “criminals” to El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele while he visited Washington, D.C. this week.

“Donald trump doesn't give a damn about freedom of speech for others. He likes his freedom of speech, but he wants to punish individuals and colleges and universities who don't share his views, and the same is true with the case of Kilmer,” Van Hollen said.

“This is a case about freedom and due process,” he continued, “and if Democrats don't stand up for … the idea of due process and personal liberty, then in my view, we should just pack our bags and go home now, because what we're seeing is this encroachment of an authoritarian government day by day, and every American patriot has a duty to stand up and speak out.”

See the entire video below, or by clicking here.

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