Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey plans visit to El Salvador for 'my constituent' Abrego Garcia

Carson Swick, Baltimore Sun on Apr 18, 2025

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BALTIMORE — Following Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Rep. Glenn Ivey is the next member of Maryland’s congressional delegation who says he will visit the Central American nation to see the mistakenly deported man.

In an X post Thursday before news of Van Hollen’s meeting broke, Ivey alluded to his plans to conduct a “welfare check” on Abrego Garcia sometime in May. Abrego Garcia, who lives in Beltsville, is a resident of Ivey’s district, which spans most of Prince George’s County and a small part of Montgomery County.

“By the time I get down to El Salvador next month, I want to be able to report back to his wife & kids that their Dad is okay,” Ivey wrote. “The government of the United States or El Salvador should not stand in the way of me doing a welfare check on my constituent.”

Ivey’s digital director, Chloe Scott, told The Baltimore Sun Friday morning that her boss is still gearing up for his own visit despite Van Hollen’s success in seeing Abrego Garcia.

“Yes, Senator Van Hollen was able to see him last night, but obviously the congressman wants to do the same and do his own welfare check as well,” Scott said in a phone interview.

Scott said the logistics of the trip are still in the works, and was not sure if Ivey would be the only congressman to make the journey — as Van Hollen was this week — or if others would join him. She noted that New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat who recently broke a record for the longest Senate speech in American history, has expressed interest in traveling to El Salvador for Abrego Garcia.

“Senator Booker is the only one at this time that I know has shown interest in going with our member,” Scott told The Sun.

While Abrego Garcia is not a U.S. citizen and therefore does not have the voting rights most constituents do, he has been in the country legally since being granted “withholding of removal” status in 2019 and has a work permit issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Back then, a judge ruled Abrego Garcia could not be deported because it was “more likely than not that he would be persecuted by gangs.”

Recent rulings — including a unanimous Supreme Court decision — have proven sharply critical of President Donald Trump’s administration’s unwillingness to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. The Trump administration has described Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 gang member, though he has no criminal record in either the U.S. or El Salvador.

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