The Trump administration admitted it mistakenly deported a Salvadoran man who was supposed to be protected. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador despite a judge’s order shielding him from removal.
His wife recognized him in footage showing deported migrants at a Salvadoran prison. The mistake came to light after that.
“Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” the Justice Department said.
The U.S. now says it can’t bring him back. He’s being held in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
“The United States does not have custody over Abrego Garcia,” the filing states. Officials say they don’t have the power to return him.
“The most they ask for is a court order that the United States entreat—or even cajole—a close ally in its fight against transnational cartels.”
Abrego Garcia applied for asylum in 2019. He won protection from deportation.
Still, he was deported with around 260 others. The Trump administration claimed they were gang members.
Most of those deported were Venezuelans said to be part of the Tren de Aragua gang. Some Salvadorans were also deported, accused of being with MS-13.
His case shows the dangers of mass deportations without proper hearings. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers insist he’s no gang member.
“Although he has been accused of general ‘gang affiliation,’ the U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation,” they wrote. He had fled El Salvador to escape gang violence.
The White House pushed back but offered no proof. “This individual was a member, actually a leader of the brutal MS-13 gang,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore.”
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say he was knowingly sent into torture. “He would be immediately incarcerated and tortured in that country’s most notorious prison.”
He’s married to a U.S. citizen. He has a disabled U.S.-citizen child.
His lawyer said the government could’ve followed legal procedures. “Defendants found those legal procedures bothersome, so they merely ignored them and deported Plaintiff Abrego Garcia to El Salvador anyway, ripping him away.”
The Trump administration is paying El Salvador $6 million to hold the migrants. CECOT’s conditions are dire.
“Each of the 256 cells is intended to hold approximately 80 inmates but often holds nearly double,” attorneys wrote. No mattresses, no windows, no fans. Two toilets. Two wash basins.
“Inmates in CECOT are confined to their cells for 23.5 hours daily and cannot go outdoors,” they added. “They are denied access to reading materials… Inmates are prohibited from receiving visits from family and friends. Meals are provided through the bars.”