Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador?

Meet Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a 29-year-old from El Salvador who has been living in the US for over a decade, now finds himself in the middle of a controversy. Despite a court ruling that protected him from deportation, he was mistakenly sent to El Salvador last month — and is now locked inside one of the world’s harshest prisons, according to a report by The Guardian.

 

Meanwhile, a statement from the US Department of Homeland Security refers to Garcia’s history violence adding that he “was not the upstanding ‘Maryland Man’ the media has portrayed him as”.

 

“According to court filings, Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt, among other harm,” reads a social media post of the US Department of Homeland Security.

 

 

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

 

Garcia, who came to the US at age 16 to escape gang threats in his home country El Salvador, had built a life in Maryland. He married a US citizen, had a legal work permit, and was raising three children.

 

In 2019, he was accused of being part of the MS-13 gang, based on a tip from a confidential informant and the fact that he wore Chicago Bulls clothes. He was never charged with any crime. That same year, a US immigration judge ruled that he should not be deported to El Salvador because he would likely face persecution by local gangs. He was released and allowed to work legally in the US.

 

On March 12 this year, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him again. Three days later, he was deported to El Salvador. His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, was not informed until he was already gone. “He would repeat the truth again and again — that he was not in a gang,” she said, as quoted by The Guardian.

 

Abrego Garcia is now held at the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador, known for poor conditions. His wife says she hasn’t heard from him since he was flown out.

 

The Trump administration admitted that the deportation was an ‘administrative error’ but has refused to bring him back. Instead, they argue it’s now up to El Salvador to release him.

 

Court order on Garcia’s release

 

Federal judge Paula Xinis, ordered the government on April 4 to help return Abrego Garcia to the US. The Supreme Court supported this ruling on April 10, mentioning the US must ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent.” The Court also said it was unclear if the US government must “effectuate” his return.

 

Xinis strongly criticised the US administration for failing to follow the order, saying, “To date, nothing has been done.” She gave the government two weeks to show what efforts they have made.

 

According to the report, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s up to them.” She added, “The Supreme Court ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him, we would ‘facilitate’ it, meaning provide a plane.”

 

However, critics argue the US has leverage, especially since it is paying El Salvador $6 million to detain people, including those sent to the Cecot prison. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who travelled to El Salvador to visit Abrego Garcia, said, “This is a Maryland man... caught up in this absolutely outrageous situation where the Trump administration admitted in court that he was erroneously abducted... in violation of all his due process rights.”