Noem exposes the 'monsters' Democrat senator is fighting to protect in immigration battle

Van Hollen, a vocal critic of the Trump administration's illegal immigration raids, was part of a Maryland congressional delegation that was denied entry to inspect a Baltimore U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility.

The lawmakers, which included Van Hollen and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, and U.S. Reps. Glenn Ivey, Johnny Olzewski Jr., Sarah Elfreth and Kweisi Mfume, staged a sit-in upon being denied entry. 

"President Trump lied to the American people when he said the Trump administration was simply going to focus on the worst of the worst," Van Hollen said outside the facility. 

"These are the monsters that @ChrisVanHollen is protecting over American victims," she wrote on X. 

U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D, Md., who was part of Monday's delegation, said they were denied entry despite following the legal requirements to enter. 

"Congress has a legal right to inspect ICE facilities," he wrote on social media. "Amid reports of inhumane conditions, this refusal is alarming. We won't stop fighting for accountability."

A post in response by the Department of Homeland Security accused the lawmaker of wanting a "photo op."

Van Hollen was the first of several Democratic lawmakers to fly to visit Abrego Garcia after he was deported to a high-security prison in his home country, El Salvador, in March.

Abrego Garcia, 29, has been returned to the U.S. and is facing charges in a sealed federal indictment in Tennessee for alleged conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens.

"As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man. It's about his constitutional rights, and the rights of all," Van Hollen told Fox News Digital in June about the case. "The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along."