Kilmar Abrego Garcia Is Alive, but Is There Any Chance That He'll Come Home?

The story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has made international headlines. The father of three, who lives in Maryland with his wife, was wrongly deported to El Salvador on March 15, 2025, and has been locked in CECOT, a prison in the country, even though the Trump administration has acknowledged that he was sent there wrongfully.

Even as the administration has suggested that he might be a "terrorist" or "human trafficker," they have offered no evidence to support these claims, and his disappearance has led some to wonder whether he's alive.

Thankfully, he is, but here's what else we know about his current condition:

Based on photos taken of him meeting with Senator Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to see him, it seems that Garcia is indeed alive, and he seems healthy.

As his story gained national traction, there were fears that one of the reasons he might not be accessible was because he had been killed or injured, but Van Hollen was able to successfully confirm his safety.

Senator Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with Garcia because Van Hollen represents him and his family in the Senate.

"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar," Van Hollen wrote on Twitter, along with photos of their meetings. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."

Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador was both an important tool to actually check on Garcia's well-being and a way to call attention to the fact that the Trump administration had unjustly sent him to El Salvador.

Even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to "facilitate" his return to the United States, the administration has still not taken any action to actually bring Garcia home.

While confirmation that he is alive and healthy is a major development, we don't yet have any firm updates on when he may actually be released. Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador was enough to pressure the El Salvadoran government to allow the senator to see him, but the last we had heard, Garcia was still stuck in a difficult legal morass when it came to his release.

In a recent sit-down with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office, the Trump administration made it sound like the decision about whether to release Garcia was in Bukele's hands.

Bukele then said that he would not "smuggle" Garcia back into the country, making his release seem unlikely.

Garcia's detention has led many across the media to call this an "emergency," given that Garcia is accused of no actual wrongdoing and was taken out of the country without being convicted of any crime.

Nevertheless, many on the right have continued to defend his imprisonment, even going so far as to comment on Van Hollen's update about him.