A new “Maryland man” has captured the heart of Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) as disfavor for national sovereignty found the lawmaker pining over the “Teacher of the Year.”
“So on-brand with you.”
Move over, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the senior senator from the Old Line State appears to have found a new foreign national to pine over. Though an international cocktail party has yet to be planned, Van Hollen took to social media to kvetch over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while failing to explain why they’ve held a professor detained for three weeks.
Sharing a report from WBAL-TV 11 News, the senator posted on X, “After winning the Teacher of the Year award at a conference in TX, UMD Professor Kibret was detained by ICE at the airport. 3 weeks later he’s still in custody. He’s not the ‘worst of the worst’ & detaining him isn’t making our communities safer. He should be released, now.”
After winning the Teacher of the Year award at a conference in TX, UMD Professor Kibret was detained by ICE at the airport.
3 weeks later he’s still in custody.
He’s not the “worst of the worst” & detaining him isn’t making our communities safer. He should be released, now.…
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) August 15, 2026
Within the outlet’s report, it detailed that University of Maryland School of Pharmacy professor Berhanu Kibret, an Ethiopian national, was detained on July 21 after attending the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas.
WBAL-TV further shared reaction from former colleague William Paterson University Professor Emmanuel Onaivi, who said, “Got the best teacher award, a mentor award, going to receive the award and boom.”
Only after the outlet noted Kibret’s school was said to be “greatly troubled,” claiming, “Dr. Kibret has a valid work authorization,” and detailing that ICE was holding the professor at Watonga, Oklahoma’s Diamondback Correctional Facility, did it share how ICE explained Kibret lawfully entered the U.S. in 2021 from Ethiopia only to overstay his welcome when his visa expired May 31, 2024.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to enter the United States,” expressed an ICE spokesperson. “ICE will continue to enforce federal immigration law and arrest those who violate the terms of their admission to uphold the rule of law.”
Narrative-focused leftists famously rose to the defense of Abrego Garcia after he was deported to El Salvador despite allegations of human smuggling and membership in the designated foreign terrorist organization MS-13.
Van Hollen’s support for the foreign national earned particular scorn from El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who shared images of the senator’s summit with Abrego Garcia under the caption, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025
Much as the senator was slammed for prioritizing the interests of an alleged gang member the media described as a “Maryland man,” Van Hollen once again took heat for framing Kibret as nothing more than a model of academia facing persecution from the Trump administration.
Licking the boots of yet another criminal illegal alien. So on-brand with you. Did you invite him out for cocktails? Did you sleep with him?
— Carlos Peligro (@CarlosPl0311) August 17, 2026
He overstayed his visa. That is a crime. The fact that he was teacher of the year is irrelevant. Maybe he should have taught himself immigration rules a little better.
— Quiet Observer (@Sarge0368) August 15, 2026
If he’s here illegally, he needs to be deported. Period.
— Richard Harrigill (@harrigill) August 16, 2026
If he’s not smart enough to get his papers in order, he shouldn’t be teaching American students.
— Fen Dozer (@DozerFen) August 15, 2026
Well, is he here illegally or not? I didn’t realize we’re able to pick and choose which laws we feel like obeying. A great many Americans don’t like our tax laws; but I wouldn’t try this concept with the IRS.
— bob davis (@13jeep24Bob) August 16, 2026
You can be a “Teacher of the Year” and a “nice human being” and still be subject to our laws.
— Charlie Bee (@brisketmystic) August 15, 2026
How well would the citizens of Maryland be served if you were to spend the same amount of time and attention regarding their interests, as you do preening, bloviating, and virtue signaling for illegal aliens and criminals…? 🤔
— Edward Morgan Blake (@EdwardMorganBl4) August 15, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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