Chris Van Hollen, Democrat at center of Kilmar Abrego Garcia saga, responds to grieving angel mom's criticism

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., responded after facing backlash from one of his constituents, grieving angel mom Patty Morin — who accused him of advocating for an alleged MS-13 gang member while ignoring her own family's pain after an illegal immigrant brutally raped and murdered her daughter in 2023. 

"What happened to the Morin family was awful and unacceptable. I cannot imagine losing a child like they lost Rachel, and I said at the time that my heart goes out to the Morin family," Van Hollen told Shannon Bream on Sunday. 

"I'm glad that the killer of Rachel Morin has been convicted in a court of law. That's how we hold guilty people accountable – in a Court of Law. Courts of law are also where people get their due process rights respected," he added.

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Patty Morin criticized Van Hollen while appearing as a special guest during a White House press briefing last week, accusing him of "barely" acknowledging her daughter's brutal death and exhibiting different priorities by using "taxpayer money" to fly to El Salvador and work to bring back an illegal immigrant.

Van Hollen maintains that the Trump administration, who has continually alleged that deported illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member, should present evidence against him in a court of law instead of a court of public opinion.

The Maryland Democrat drew ire from Republicans for visiting Abrego Garcia in an El Salvador megaprison, CECOT, last week amid a lengthy and ongoing push for his return to the U.S.

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At the same time, the Rachel Morin case reemerged in the national spotlight after a jury convicted Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, of brutally raping, strangling and beating the Maryland mom of five to death in a quaint community northeast of Baltimore.

Van Hollen stressed that "zero connection" exists between Morin's murder and the international spectacle involving Abrego Garcia's deportation. At the same time, he voiced his "concern" over Morin's murder.

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"My heart goes out to every Maryland family that is the victim of violence, regardless of the perpetrator, and that is why I am very glad… that a court of law has convicted her killer. That is where we litigate these issues," he said. 

"That is where the Trump administration admitted that they had wrongfully detained and deported Abrego Garcia. My whole point here is if you deprive one man of his constitutional rights, you threaten the constitutional rights of everybody. I would hope that all of us would understand that principle."