By Civitas
This past week, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., took a trip many people haven’t heard about—but all of us need to.
He went to El Salvador to check on Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland father who was suddenly taken by the Trump administration and sent to one of the most dangerous prisons in the world. He had no trial. No lawyer. No call home. He just disappeared.
Let me say that again: a Latino man from Maryland was disappeared by our own government and shipped to a foreign country. That should never happen. But it did.
Sen. Van Hollen traveled all the way there to see him—face to face. To make sure he was okay. To demand justice. And El Salvador’s government wouldn’t even let him in the prison. They wouldn’t say if Kilmar is alive. They gave no proof of life to a sitting U.S. senator.
That’s not just disrespectful. That’s dangerous.
This is bigger than one man
This is not just about Kilmar. The Trump administration is laying the groundwork to send U.S. citizens to foreign prisons, and they’ve made it clear who they plan to target: Black and Brown people and dissidents
President Trump has already asked the president of El Salvador to build five new prison camps—for Americans. He called us “homegrowns” and said there wouldn’t be room for all of us. There are reports that these camps might sit on U.S. land inside El Salvador so they can pretend it’s legal.
This is a loophole to get around the Constitution. And let’s call it what it is: modern-day slavery. People taken from their homes, sent across borders, forced to work, and not allowed to leave–that’s trafficking. That’s the same system our ancestors were stolen into.
And now? It’s happening again. Quietly. Systematically. To us.
This is the beginning—if we let it be
They’re already revoking legal visas from African and Caribbean nations and telling people to “self-deport”—or risk being disappeared, too. And now, today, the Trump administration says even speaking up for Kilmar could be treated as “aiding terrorists.” So they’re not just criminalizing immigration. They’re criminalizing advocacy. They’re criminalizing us.
We must speak up—and thank those who already have
This is why I thank Sen. Van Hollen. He didn’t have to go. He didn’t have to risk political fallout. But he showed up for Kilmar. He showed up for Maryland. And he showed up for us.
He reminded us that due process still matters, that Back and Brown people are at risk, and that we are not disposable.
Now it’s on us to speak his name.
To demand Kilmar’s return.
To call this what it is: a test run for a wider plan.
We see the warning signs.
And we won’t be silent.
Civitas is a writer, legal researcher and advocate focused on human rights, race, and government accountability in the 21st century.