Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mocked "crazy town" Democrats for defending Salvadoran illegal immigrants like alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia over U.S. citizens.
Bringing up Van Hollen’s and other Democrats’ trips to El Salvador on behalf of Abrego Garcia, Cruz said: "We’re seeing Democrat senators, Democrat house members flying down to El Salvador and putting all their political capital behind the position that we need more illegal immigrants in America, we need more criminals in America, and we need more MS-13 gang members in America."
"I think Trump derangement syndrome is a real mental illness," he went on. "I think they hate Donald Trump so much that it has driven them to crazy town. . . . Why is it that Democrats care so much about supporting violent criminal illegal aliens, they care so much about supporting MS-13 gang members?"
Though many Democrats claim that Abrego Garcia is an innocent man who was wrongly deported, the administration has pointed to considerable evidence that he is a member of the MS-13 gang.
According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville, Maryland, in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George's County Police Gang Unit as an MS-13 gang member.
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Jennifer, Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife, cries as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) speaks during a press conference after returning from El Salvador, where he had met with the man, on April 18, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, VA. (Pete Kiehart for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The court required the "government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
The Trump administration agreed to clear any administrative obstacles keeping Abrego Garcia from returning to the U.S., but Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that returning him is "up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us."
After Fox News Digital asked Van Hollen whether he was aware of the domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia before he went to visit him in El Salvador, the senator became defensive, saying: "What I said here was these issues need to be litigated in the courts, okay?"
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"What Donald Trump needs to do is put up or shut up in the courts, and he’s just not done that," he went on.
"My response is, always stick to the Constitution, stick to the due process rights of people who live in America, and if we all do that, then we’ll be doing the right thing for our country."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ted-cruz-mocks-crazy-town-dems-maryland-senator-gets-defensive-about-advocacy-alleged-ms-13-member