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The US government has admitted to mistakenly deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who had temporary legal protections, to El Salvador.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, roughly two weeks ago the US deported a planeload of illegal immigrants to El Salvador, sending them directly to the country’s high-security “Terrorism Confinement Center,” or CECOT. The US government claimed the individuals on those flights were dangerous gang members, primarily affiliated with Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and El Salvador’s MS-13, and justified the mass deportation as a crackdown on transnational criminal networks. However, reports soon emerged from lawyers and families claiming that some of those deported had no gang affiliations whatsoever and were instead undocumented migrants with no criminal history—caught up in a sweeping operation based on appearance, tattoos, or unverified claims.
What’s going on now: In a court filing, the Department of Justice admitted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, despite a 2019 court order explicitly protecting him from removal. The DOJ said, “Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed… because of an administrative error.” Garcia is now being held inside El Salvador’s infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison known for overcrowding, extreme confinement, and reported human rights abuses. His wife, a US citizen, identified him in footage released from the prison, recognizing his tattoos and distinct scars.
In response, Garcia’s legal team filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland, demanding the US government secure his return and halt all payments to the Salvadoran government for his detention. His attorneys argue that he was unlawfully removed in “knowing and intentional” violation of court orders and that the government circumvented due process because they found legal procedures “bothersome.”
Despite the admission of error, the White House is defending the deportation. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “This individual was a member—actually a leader—of the brutal MS-13 gang,” and claimed he had been involved in human trafficking. “Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore,” Leavitt added, noting that the administration has “credible intelligence” to support their position.
As of now, no public evidence has been presented, and Garcia’s lawyers maintain that not “an iota of evidence” has been provided to back the MS-13 accusation.
This comes as the DOJ said it’s unlikely they will be able to bring Garcia back to the United States because they no longer have jurisdiction over the case.
