Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, on Thursday with the approval of the country’s authorities. 

The lawmaker’s interaction with Abrego Garcia comes after he was twice denied the chance to speak with him in person and via phone.

“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen wrote in a Thursday post on X.

“I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return,” he added in the caption for his picture with Abrego Garcia in civilian clothes. 

Moments after the image of the two facing each other was uploaded, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele poked fun at their meeting.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador,” Bukele wrote in a Thursday post on X. 

“Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody,” he continued in a subsequent post. 

The Latin American leader said he would not help Abrego Garcia return to the United States, echoing the messaging recently put out by the White House. 

The Trump administration has refused to support Abrego Garcia’s release. The Supreme Court, an appeals court and a lower court each ruled that the Trump administration must attempt to “facilitate” his return. 

An immigration court also ruled against deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador under an asylum order.