Since March, many Democrats have demanded that the Trump administration return to the U.S. a Salvadoran national named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien and suspected MS-13 gang member who was erroneously deported to his home country.

Garcia has now been brought back to the U.S., but any celebrations by Democrats will be bittersweet, as he was only returned to face federal criminal human trafficking charges that were announced on Friday by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Newsmax reported.

Of particular note is the reaction from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who traveled to visit the illegal Maryland resident when he was temporarily imprisoned in El Salvador, and is now cheering Garcia's return to the U.S. while simultaneously attempting to distance himself from the alleged human smuggler.

High-profile deportee returned to face criminal charges

In a Friday press conference, AG Bondi told reporters, "Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice. On May 21, a grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment, charging Abrego Garcia with alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling."

She thanked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele "for agreeing to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant, and they agreed to return him to our country."

Bondi further noted that Abrego Garcia would be fully prosecuted for his alleged crimes and, if convicted, would serve his sentence in the U.S. before likely being deported once again to his home country after that sentence was completed.

Alleged human trafficking conspiracy

According to a 10-page indictment, Abrego Garcia faces two federal felony charges related to the illegal transport of undocumented aliens throughout the U.S. that stem from an alleged human trafficking conspiracy that has been in action since 2016.

Over those nine years, Abrego Garcia is alleged to have made more than 100 trips transporting more than 1,000 illegal aliens -- including MS-13 gang members, women, and children -- along with occasional loads of firearms and narcotics from Texas to other locations in the U.S., including his state of residence, Maryland.

"They found this was his full-time job; not a contractor," AG Bondi told reporters of the federal grand jury that handed down the indictment. "He was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people … MS-13 gang members, violent gang terrorist organization members throughout our country."

Sen. Van Hollen called out by White House

Fox News reported that several Democrats, including Sen. Van Hollen, issued statements heralding the return of Abrego Garcia, who had become something of a cause celeb on the left after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador despite a 2019 court order barring his repatriation to that country.

"For months, the Trump administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution," Van Hollen said. "Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States."

"As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man. It’s about his constitutional rights, and the rights of all," the senator added. "The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along."

Newsmax noted that in response, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "The Justice Department's grand jury indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools," and noted, "Abrego Garcia was never an innocent 'Maryland Man' -- Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable."

"The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called 'journalist' who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia's victims," she added. "The Trump Administration will continue to hold criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law."