Maryland
Maryland senator is returning to US after pushing for Abrego Garcia’s release and meeting with him – WTOP News
WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen was flying home from El Salvador on Friday after meeting with Kilmar…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen was flying home from El Salvador on Friday after meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported there by the Trump administration. It’s unclear what will happen next in the case.
More Democrats have said they will fly to El Salvador to push for his release, but the partisan pressure hasn’t yielded any results. President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele have dug in on keeping Abrego Garcia out of the United States, even as officials in Trump’s Republican administration have called his deportation a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return.
Bukele posted images of Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia on Thursday and said that the prisoner in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, “gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said he will “never live in the United States of America again.”
The fight over Abrego Garcia is the latest partisan flashpoint as Democrats have struggled to break through and push back during the opening few months of Trump’s second time in office.
Democrats say the fight isn’t just about one man’s immigration status but about Trump’s defiance of the courts that have repeatedly weighed in on the case. A federal appeals court said Thursday in a blistering order that the Trump administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Abrego Garcia from the prison in El Salvador and return him to the United States “should be shocking.”
Republicans aren’t budging
But Republicans appear to have only become more determined to keep Abrego Garcia out of the country. They have sharply criticized Van Hollen’s trip and claimed that Abrego Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang. His attorneys say the government has provided no evidence of gang involvement and he has never been charged with any crime related to such activity.
Democrats “have time and again prioritized politics over the safety and security of Americans,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said in a statement Friday. “It is utterly divorced from reality.”
Van Hollen, who will talk to reporters after landing in the Washington area later Friday, has said he won’t stop fighting for the release of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland.
“This is about bringing home a man they ADMIT should’ve never been abducted,” Van Hollen posted on X.
The Democratic senator posted a photo of his meeting with Abrego Garcia on Thursday evening but did not provide an update on his status. He said he had called Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, “to pass on a message of love” and would provide a full update upon his return.
It’s unclear how the meeting was arranged, where they met or what will happen to Abrego Garcia. Vasquez Sura said in a statement released by an advocacy group that “we still have so many questions, hopes, and fears.”
After days of denying that he knew much about Abrego Garcia, Trump on Friday said he knew Abrego Garcia was “unbelievably bad” and called him an “illegal alien” and a “foreign terrorist.”
The president also responded Friday with a social media post saying Van Hollen “looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention.”
Lots of Congress members are visiting the prison, or trying
Several House Republicans have visited the notorious gang prison in support of the Trump administration’s efforts. Rep. Riley Moore, a West Virginia Republican, posted Tuesday evening that he’d visited the prison where Abrego Garcia is being held. “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore wrote on social media.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials acknowledged in a court filing earlier this month that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.” The government’s acknowledgment sparked immediate uproar from immigration advocates, but White House officials have dug in on the allegation that he’s a gang member.
The fight has also played out in contentious court filings, with repeated refusals from the government to tell a judge what it plans to do, if anything, to repatriate him. The three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refused Thursday to suspend the judge’s decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials and said the judiciary will be hurt by the “constant intimations of its illegitimacy” while the executive branch “will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness.”
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, nominated by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wrote that he and his two colleagues “cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.”
Since March, El Salvador has accepted from the U.S. more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants — whom Trump administration officials have accused of gang activity and violent crimes — and placed them inside the country’s maximum-security gang prison just outside San Salvador.
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The 21-year-old second baseman and 11th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft has deep ties to the D.C. region.
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
(Courtesy Washington Nationals)
Courtesy Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals’ first-round draft pick Chris Hacopian inked his first professional contract Wednesday, a moment made sweeter by the fact it was just a 30-minute drive from home to get to Nationals Park and put pen to paper.
The 21-year-old second baseman and 11th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft has deep ties to the D.C. region. He’s from Potomac, Maryland, and played his high school ball at Winston Churchill, where he was named the 2022 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year and a 2022 Washington Post All-Met selection.
According to MLB.com, Hacopian grew up a Nationals fan, admiring the likes of Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and others. He also played his first two collegiate seasons at the University of Maryland, where his father Derek played before him, before transferring to Texas A&M for his junior season.
With the Aggies, Hacopian hit .319 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI across 42 games en route to being named First-Team All-Southeastern Conference and a Third-Team All-American by Baseball America, the Nationals said in a news release.
After inking his contract Wednesday, Hacopian donned his new jersey and ball cap and stepped onto D.C.’s beloved diamond as a part of the Nationals organization for the first time.
“That was so cool, oh my gosh. I’ve been in the stands like, 100 times, but being on the field is so different,” he said.
Hacopian was ranked 14th among MLB Draft prospects by MLB.com. The 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound second baseman boasted one of the best bats in college baseball, according to MLB.com, with excellent control over the strike zone and feel for the barrel, along with solid pop.
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The state said the five recently traveled together to “a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak.”
Maryland health officials confirmed five more measles cases, all in Carroll County.
“These individuals recently traveled together to a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak,” the state Department of Health said in a release.
The agency said others may have been exposed on the afternoon of July 13 in the emergency department waiting room at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster.
Another measles case recently prompted warnings from health officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District. On June 17, a Maryland resident traveled through Dulles International Airport and visited a D.C. urgent care clinic.
Measles is highly contagious. It can spread through the air through coughs, breathing, and sneezes. Early symptoms can include fevers of over 101 degrees, coughs, runny noses, watery eyes and face or body rashes.
It can take up to 21 days after exposure for the first symptoms to appear, and those who are not fully vaccinated or otherwise immune to measles are especially vulnerable.
The five new measles cases in Maryland bring the state’s year-to-date total to nine. The state health department confirmed three cases in 2025, and one in each of the previous two years.
“All Marylanders should review potential exposure times, watch for symptoms, and confirm they are up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations,” the health department said.
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Baltimore may be under an extreme heat alert, but residents can dream about autumn, as tickets are now on sale for the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show returning to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in October.
This three-day celebration of home and garden takes place from Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Expect hundreds of exhibitors, local makers, home improvement experts, family-friendly experiences and celebrity guests. The show offers everyone the chance to explore the very latest in home improvement, landscaping, outdoor living and decor, the chance to take part in hands-on experiences, and do some holiday shopping all under one roof.
This year’s show will have more than 300 exhibitors, including more than 100 crafters from around Maryland in the Makers Market. There will be unique exhibits, stage presentations and a special appearance by Chase Morrill, Ashley Morrill-Eldridge and Ryan Eldridge from Magnolia Network’s hit series “Maine Cabin Masters.” The three will have two Main Stage appearances, one on Friday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and the second on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 p.m.
“As temperatures start to drop and the holiday season comes into view, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show is a place to gather ideas, meet local experts and get inspired before the busy season begins,” said Dave Paul, show manager, in a statement. “Whether attendees are planning a home project, looking for outdoor living ideas or getting a head start on holiday shopping, the show brings together resources and experiences for every kind of homeowner, maker and DIY enthusiast.”
In addition to the Makers Market and stars of “Maine Cabin Masters”, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show will have a petting zoo, a Kids Market where attendees can shop from local children, and much more.
Tickets are available online and at the door. Prices are as follows:
Online:
- Adults: $8
- Senior Citizens (60+): $6
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- 4-Pack Online: $30 for four tickets, valid for one admission each and one day only
At the door:
- Adults: $10
- Senior Citizens (60+): $8
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- Friday & Saturday: $4 after 4 p.m. at the door only
Special Offers:
- Active and retired military personnel, veterans, firefighters and police officers receive free admission all weekend, along with one guest, with valid ID at the box office.
- Attendees who show a CharmPass app, Light RailLink ticket or eligible transit pass at the box office receive free admission any day of the show. One admission is available per pass.
The Maryland State Fairgrounds is located at 2200 York Road in Lutherville-Timonium.
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