Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s crackdown on criminal migrants Tuesday during a heated back-and-forth with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
Van Hollen, a vocal critic of the deportation of alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, informed Rubio during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that he wished he hadn’t voted to confirm him for the Cabinet post, sparking the tense exchange.
“Your campaign of fear and repression is eating away at the foundational values of our democracy,” the Maryland Democrat said, comparing the Trump administration’s efforts to deport anti-Israel student visa holders and illegal immigrants to the “Red Scare” of the 1950s.
“And I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for secretary of state,” Van Hollen added.
Rubio shot back: “Your regret for voting for me confirms I’m doing a good job, based on what I know about your record and what you stand for.”
“That’s just a flippant statement, Mr. Secretary,” Van Hollen argued, demanding more time from committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) to respond to Rubio’s comment.
Risch refused Van Hollen’s request, noting that his time was up and “woefully used.”
“I’m actually very proud of the work we’ve done with USAID,” Rubio continued. “For example, I don’t regret cutting $10 million for male circumcisions in Mozambique. I don’t know how that makes us stronger and more prosperous as a nation.”
After more interruptions from Van Hollen, Rubio turned to the case of Abrego Garcia and referenced the senator’s infamous April 17 meeting with the Maryland man in El Salvador.
“In the case of El Salvador, absolutely, absolutely, we deported gang members — gang members including the one you had a margarita with,” the secretary of state told Van Hollen. “And that guy is a human trafficker, and that guy is a gangbanger, and the evidence is going to be clear in the days to come.”
“He can’t make unsubstantiated comments like that!” Van Hollen shouted as the committee chairman pounded his gavel.
“Secretary Rubio should take that testimony to the federal court of the United States because he hasn’t done it under oath,” the senator fumed.
Rubio went on to assert that the judicial branch cannot interfere with the administration’s foreign policy and that he is under “no obligation” to divulge to the courts what he’s discussed with foreign leaders, such as with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele regarding Abrego Garcia’s case.
Moving to the subject of student visas, Rubio maintained, “I don’t deport anybody and I don’t snatch anybody.
“The State Department does not have officers in the streets snatching everybody. What I do is revoke visas. And it’s very simple. A visa is not a right. It is a privilege.”
The secretary of state continued: “If you tell me that you’re coming to the United States to lead campus crusades to take over libraries and burn down, try to burn down buildings, and acts of violence — we’re not going to give you a visa.”
“Come on, Mr. Secretary,” Van Hollen interrupted. “You’re just blowing smoke here now.”
“There are more coming,” Rubio said of the potential for more visa revocations. “We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education.”
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