Wrongfully Deported: Trump Admin Sends Protected Maryland Father to Salvadoran Prison
The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with protected immigration status, to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison. However, officials refuse to bring him back, arguing that U.S. courts have no authority to compel his return. Abrego Garcia, who fled El Salvador at 16 to escape gang violence, was living legally in the U.S. with his American wife and disabled son. He had no criminal record and was working as a sheet metal apprentice when he was deported due to an administrative error.
Abrego Garcia was one of 250 men sent to El Salvador’s CECOT terrorism center after former President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, despite a judge’s order blocking the deportations. The act allows the president to deport foreign nationals only when the U.S. is at war with a foreign government, yet Trump argued that Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had "invaded" the U.S. However, Abrego Garcia is Salvadoran, not Venezuelan, and the government’s own filing refers to El Salvador as a “close ally.”
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have remained silent on the case, while administration officials continue to justify the deportation. Vice President JD Vance falsely claimed on social media that Abrego Garcia was a convicted MS-13 gang member, but the government’s own documents contradict this. A confidential informant once accused him of gang affiliation, but a judge granted him protection from deportation. The incident that led to his arrest involved chatting with strangers outside a Home Depot. Despite no official gang charges, ICE classified him as a gang member based on questionable evidence.
Abrego Garcia had been granted a legal protection called "withholding of removal," which prevents deportation if the individual is likely to face persecution. Nevertheless, on March 12, ICE officers arrested him after a routine traffic stop and deported him three days later. His wife discovered his imprisonment only through a press photo showing inmates with shaved heads and recognized his tattoos.
Legal experts argue this case highlights potential abuses of the Alien Enemies Act. The last time it was invoked, during World War II, detainees at least received hearings. Abrego Garcia is not alone; other deportees include a Venezuelan soccer player, a gay makeup artist, and a barber, all of whom were seeking asylum. Despite reports of torture in El Salvador’s prisons, the U.S. government insists Abrego Garcia has not suffered “irreparable harm.”