Government argues it no longer has control over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s fate

Summary:

The Trump administration accidentally sent a Salvadorian immigrant to a notorious Salvadorian prison and says it can’t do anything to get him back.

That’s even though the man had protected immigration status in the U.S., specifically barring him from being sent back to that country for fear of persecution.

On Monday, in a filing in Maryland federal court, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admitted to mistakenly sending Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s notoriously brutal CECOT prison.

“On March 15, 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 government wrote.

The admission came in a suit from Abrego Garcia’s family, who is seeking court orders barring the U.S. from paying El Salvador for the man’s detention and demanding that the federal government request the country return him to the United States.

The Trump administration argues that because the man is no longer in U.S. custody, a U.S. court lacks jurisdiction to issue orders regarding his detention and release. U.S. claims it can’t seek man’s freedom from notorious Salvadorian prison because it no longer has custody over him U.S. claims it can’t seek man’s freedom from notorious Salvadorian prison because it no longer has custody over him (AP)

Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. without inspection sometime around 2011 from El Salvador and settled in Maryland, fleeing from gangs in his home country who allegedly stalked, assaulted, and threatened to kill and kidnap him as part of extortion efforts, according to court documents.

In 2019, he was given a notice to appear in removal proceedings, where ICE accused him of being a member of the Salvadorian criminal gang MS-13.

His attorneys maintain he has no criminal record, ties to the gang, or relation to any criminal group. They claim the accusation rests on a flimsy gang arrest when he was targeted by police for little more than wearing Chicago Bulls-branded clothing while seeking work outside a Home Depot. (ICE maintains that a confidential informant told the agency the man was a member of MS-13.)

During the removal proceedings, Abrego Garcia applied for asylum and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and a judge granted him withholding from removal. The government did not appeal the decision.

The Maryland man, a union sheet metal working apprentice and father to a 5-year-old, remained in the U.S. and continued regular mandated check-ins with ICE, according to court documents, appearing most recently in January.

“Instead, the government put Mr. Abrego Garcia on a plane to El Salvador, seemingly without any pretense of a legal basis whatsoever,” his attorneys wrote in their suit, filed on Friday. “Once in El Salvador, that country’s government immediately placed Mr. Abrego Garcia into a torture center — one that the U.S. government is reportedly paying the government of El Salvador to operate. This grotesque display of power without law is abhorrent to our entire system of justice, and must not be allowed to stand.”

  • arotrios@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    6·
    2 days ago

    Sauce? And proof?

    Karoline “Lyin’” Leavitt ain’t exactly a good source…

    In 2022, Karoline Leavitt ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st district, ultimately losing to the incumbent congressman Chris Pappas. The election loss was, however, not the only setback Leavitt faced. That same year, Leavitt found herself in the middle of a campaign finance scandal. In November 2022, End Citizens United, a non-governmental campaign finance committee, accused Leavitt of illegally accepting donations that exceeded the stipulated limit and never repaid her donors. “Karoline Leavitt continues to prove she’ll do whatever it takes to win this race, even if it means breaking the law,” Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, said at the time.

    Three years later, Leavitt admitted to the violation after declaring that her failed campaign owed about $200,000 in refunds to donors who contributed over the legal limits. Leavitt’s admission, however, was met with backlash from social media users who quickly reacted with criticism. “So @karolineleavitt stole the money. Campaign Funding is separate entities for a reason … If she took the money from her campaign funds, then she embezzled it, she stole it, thats a crime. Lock. Her. Up.” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “When will we as a country start holding these crooks accountable?” another person questioned.

    Karoline Leavitt has made a few false claims as the White House press secretary

    Since assuming office as the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt has faced backlash for making misleading claims. During her first official White House briefing on January 28, 2025, Leavitt alleged that the Trump administration had blocked the release of millions of dollars meant to fund condoms in war-stricken Gaza. “DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” Leavitt said in the press conference while defending Donald Trump’s freeze on federal grants.

    Leavitt’s comment has, however, been dismissed by several experts given the lack of evidence. “It seems clear to me there was no $50 million in condoms going to Gaza. That is, at best, a mischaracterization,” Matthew Kavanagh, Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, told CNN. Similarly, Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former USAID official described Leavitt’s claim as “total garbage.”

    The irony of Leavitt spreading misinformation hasn’t gone unnoticed, especially given her past warnings about holding the media accountable for misrepresenting the Trump administration. But perhaps this is a reminder that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.