Tom Homan, the White House border czar, defended the controversial deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and rebuked Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who traveled last week to El Salvador to meet with Garcia. Homan’s comments came in a Friday interview that aired Sunday on ABC.

“We removed a public safety threat, a national security threat, a violent gang member from the United States,” Homan said, adding that the government believes Garcia is a member of MS-13, an international gang. 

Asked whether he was concerned about the treatment of Garcia, Homan said “what bothers me more than that is a U.S. Senator traveled to El Salvador on taxpayer dime to meet with an MS-13 gang member.”

In a separate interview on the same program, Van Hollen said of Garcia, “This is a guy who was just abducted off the streets of Maryland, put in a couple airplanes, didn’t know he was going to El Salvador, and ends up in the most notorious prison,” referring to CECOT, a Salvadoran confinement center for terrorists.

The Garcia episode has prompted a backlash from Democrats and federal courts. A court order had protected Garcia from deportation to El Salvador, and the Trump administration says he was sent there due to a clerical error. The Supreme Court has instructed the White House to facilitate the return of Garcia.