This is the story of Kilmar Ábrego García, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration. He has since been moved to another jail in the Salvadoran city of Santa Ana. His deportation on March 15, 2021 has received a lot of attention and created quite a stir. This focus comes from the Trump administration’s baseless allegations that he had ties to MS-13, an organization classified as a foreign terrorist organization. García has never even been convicted of a crime. This reality has fueled the years-long legal and political battle over his treatment and status.
García was finally captured by federal immigration authorities on March 12, 2021, in Baltimore. After his arrest, he was quickly deported from the state of Texas only three days later. His family and attorneys have strongly rejected any claims of MS-13 connections to him, calling all allegations against him false. Things came to a head violently in 2021 after his wife sought and was denied the issuance of a protective order. She claimed that García physically assaulted her numerous times.
This was not an isolated incident In 2022, a similar instance took place when García was stopped in Tennessee for allegedly speeding. However, all of these incidents in the past don’t make him a criminal, his family argues. The White House has maintained a firm stance on the matter, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating, “If he [Mr. Ábrego García] ever ends up back in the United States, he would immediately be deported again.”
Just last month, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen made the trip to visit García in El Salvador. He pointed out that García, as a result, now lives “traumatized” and “is afraid of other inmates” in the notorious mega-jail Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism). Van Hollen said the new prison facility is an improvement over what he made as a youth—though still not ideal.
“His conversation with me was the first communication that he had with anybody outside of prison since he was abducted,” – Sen Van Hollen.
García said he had days of sadness for being locked up for no reason. Yet he continues to be cut off from the outside world, without access to news or any way to communicate with the outside world. Senator Van Hollen underscored the need for increased judicial accountability in light of García’s case.
“If you want to make claims about Ábrego García, you should present them in the courts, not on social media,” – Sen Van Hollen.
Three different federal judges have ordered the government to allow García to be returned to the United States. That’s on top of a recent, unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling, but still the White House continues to claim he will “never” return to the U.S. The ongoing lawsuit over his deportation and treatment deepens troubling questions over immigration enforcement policies and human rights.
The controversial nature of this case has led to fierce protests by human rights leaders. They’re now calling on the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to re-evaluate García’s case. Senator Van Hollen underscored the importance of transparency and fairness in judicial proceedings.
“This is a flat-out lie about what this case is about,” – Sen Van Hollen.
In no uncertain terms, Van Hollen said he does not have García’s back. He warned that failing to do justice in this case would create a dangerous precedent for all other similarly-situated defendants.
“If we take it away from [Mr. Ábrego García], we do jeopardize it for everybody else,” – Sen Van Hollen.
Conversations around immigration enforcement and civil liberties have intensified over the last few years. Kilmar Ábrego García’s case, then, is emblematic of the larger systemic issues at play in the U.S. deportation system. The response from both legal advocates and politicians will likely influence future actions related to deportation cases involving unconvicted individuals.
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