Chris Van Hollen
U.S. Senator from Maryland
Christopher J. Van Hollen, Jr., was born in January 1959 in Karachi, Pakistan, where his father was a Foreign Service Officer and his mother was with the CIA. He spent his early years in Pakistan, Turkey, India and Sri Lanka. He returned to the United States for junior high school. He is a graduate of the Kodaikanal International School in Southern India, graduated from Swarthmore College with an undergraduate degree in philosophy, then continued his studies at Harvard University, where he earned a Master of Public Policy degree. He later received a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.
During and after law school, he worked as a legislative assistant for a Maryland senator. He was a staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a legislative adviser for federal affairs to the Maryland governor. He served in the Maryland General Assembly for eight years and in the State Senate. He served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He assumed that office in January 2017.
Van Hollen is married to Katherine, and they have three children. He is an Episcopalian.
In the News…
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has advocated for the return of a deported Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was a confirmed gang member. The senator traveled to El Salvador this week to “check on his condition“ and “show solidarity with his family.“
A 2019 deportation order was accompanied by a withholding order that prohibited the Salvadoran’s return to his home country. President Donald Trump’s administration overlooked the withholding order and deported the man to El Salvador. A district court ordered the man be returned, but the Supreme Court amended that opinion to direct the administration to “facilitate” his release rather than “effectuate” his return to the U.S.
Senator Van Hollen wrote a letter to Salvadoran officials requesting to meet with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador during his visit to Washington, D.C. During a meeting with President Trump at the White House, President Bukele stated he could not send the man back to the U.S.
Stating that Abrego Garcia had been “abducted,” Senator Van Hollen stated. “It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release, which is why tomorrow I am traveling to El Salvador.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Senator Van Hollen today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Chris Van Hollen
Senator from Maryland
730 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
