Deported immigrant’s disputed gang ties, suspected trafficking, illegal status detailed in evidence

There is a growing body of evidence that the man at the center of one of the most significant deportation cases in modern history wasn’t the peaceful, law-abiding father "from Maryland," as his wife and lawyers have claimed in the news media.

The facts behind Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s entry, presence in, and removal from the United States paint a much more complicated picture that includes government rulings showing gang affiliation, deportation orders, and suspicions of involvement in human trafficking operations by Department of Homeland Security investigators.

The court fight over Abrego Garcia’s removal is perhaps one of the most significant legal battles of the second Trump administration, touching on the president’s signature campaign issue and promise to voters: mass deportations of illegal immigrants that have crossed the border in record numbers in recent years.

Abrego Garcia, who was branded by law enforcement and judicial authorities as a member of the notorious El Salvadoran gang MS-13, was rounded up and deported alongside about 20 other alleged members of the gang to a mega-prison set up by President Nayib Bukele in the small Central American nation of El Salvador to combat the rampant gang problem.

His lawyers challenged the removal by U.S. immigration authorities as unlawful on the grounds that a prior 2019 court order prohibited his removal to El Salvador specifically because the migrant allegedly feared persecution. However, that same 2019 order did not stop authorities from deporting Abrego Garcia elsewhere.

The Trump Justice Department chalked the deportation to El Salvador up to an “administrative error” by sending Abrego Garcia back to his home country, but insist that he had been lawfully deported from the United States. President Trump and administration officials have also said that they can do little to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States because he is no longer in U.S. custody. The El Salvadoran president indicated he would not facilitate his return.

Supreme Court: "The lower court judge likely exceeded her authority"

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the federal judge presiding over the challenger erred when she ruled that the Trump administration had to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis originally gave the administration a midnight April 7 deadline to return him. However, the Supreme Court granted an administrative stay and ultimately ruled the administration should "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to the United States. But, the court also ruled the lower court judge likely exceeded her authority by mandating the U.S. government return him.

Abrego Garcia’s family, lawyers, and allied groups have sought to paint the illegal immigrant as a family man and hard worker lawfully residing in the United States.

“Kilmar is a loving father, husband, son, brother, union construction co-worker, and CASA member,” an online fundraiser page set up for legal expenses in the court fight reads. The organizers assert that Abrego Garcia was “wrongfully disappeared and deported” due to a shocking administrative error by the US government.”

The crowdsourcing campaign was reportedly set up by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), a charity that claims to provide assistance to immigrant workers. NDLON is partly funded through the left-wing ActBlue Charities, and their Facebook page displays images comparing ICE agents to Nazis capturing Jews.

Garcia had been nabbed before

The administration and law enforcement documents paint a very different picture of the deportee, claiming the narrative is a facade that covers up dangerous gang affiliations and a history of domestic violence.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien, MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist who was deported back to his home country and when [Abrego Garcia] was originally arrested, he was wearing a sweatshirt with rolls of money covering the ears, mouth and eyes of presidents on various currency denominations. This is a known MS-13 gang symbol of 'hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil',” Leavitt told reporters in a Wednesday press conference.

In his 2019 hearing, an immigration judge held that "the determination that the Respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record, namely, information contained in the Gang Field Interview Sheet. Although the Court is reluctant to give evidentiary weight to the Respondent's clothing as an indication of gang affiliation, the fact that a "past, proven, and reliable source of information" verified the Respondent's gang membership, rank, and gang name is sufficient to support that the Respondent is a gang member, and the Respondent has failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion."

DHS also publicly released court documents showing that in 2021, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, applied for a protective order against her husband and alleged she was the victim of domestic violence, in which she told police he had bruised her and torn off her blouse. Although sympathetic reporters have described that case simply as "dismissed," there was in fact no further fact-finding in the alleged assault, because Vasquez failed to appear in court.

Government documents reviewed by Just the News show Abrego Garcia was flagged in 2022 by the Biden administration as a "suspect alien" who was possibly involved in “human smuggling/trafficking” after a traffic stop hundreds of miles from his Maryland home.

Started with a traffic stop

Abrego Garcia, the records show, was stopped in Tennessee for driving erratically and speeding by a state trooper in late November 2022, and found to be driving an SUV full of people coming from Texas — with no luggage — with an expired Maryland license, leading the Tennessee trooper to suspect possible human trafficking or smuggling.

The records indicate the incident was brought to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations during a routine review of computer-aided dispatch reports generated anytime law enforcement stops a suspect. There is no record showing whether Biden's DHS ever followed up on enforcing the matter. 

The vehicle that Abrego Garcia was driving during the traffic stop was itself flagged by HSI's Baltimore field office as a suspected human trafficking or smuggling vehicle in use by an unspecified target in a Maryland investigation, according to a separate document reviewed by Just the News.

Garcia admits illegal status to law enforcement

Police reports connected to Abrego Garcia’s 2019 arrest show that Garcia was positively identified by law enforcement as a member of the MS-13 gang and not legally residing in the United States.

The records, released by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, show that Abrego Garcia was among a group of men detained by Prince George County police in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., who “freely admitted being citizens and nationals of El Salvador by birth and that they were present in the United States illegally.”

“The subjects were not in possession of any immigration documents that would allow them to be in or remain in the United States legally,” one report added. The report shows Abrego Garcia extensively detailing his journey to the United States to law enforcement, claiming he “walked across the desert for many days” before illegally entering the country near McAllen, Texas, on or about March 25, 2012.

Garcia denied needing asylum, with no fear of returning to El Salvador

That same report showed Abrego Garcia was offered a chance to claim he needed humanitarian assistance for illness or had reason to seek refuge from persecution – two grounds for asylum – but he denied needing either. In fact, he told authorities he was willing to leave the United States, according to the documents, reported by Just the News on Wednesday.

You can read the reports below:

The report also included intelligence from the Prince George County Gang Unit connecting him to gang membership. “Per Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit, Abrego Garcia was validated as a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) Gang. Subject was identified as a member of the Mara Salvatrucha MS-13, "Chequeo" from the Western Clique a transnational criminal street gang,” the memo says.

Abrego Garcia later claimed to police he knew nothing about gangs or drug running, the report added.