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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has lived in the US since 2011, was detained by ICE after being stopped in March 2025 while picking up his son from his grandmother's home, "inaccurately telling him that his protected status had changed," according to court documents.
Federal officials later admitted their error after Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador's CECOT facility, a maximum security prison with a questionable history of human rights violations.
After giving his wife a few minutes to arrive to take custody of his son, ICE arrested and detained him without any further explanation as to the reason for his arrest, officials said.
ICE then transferred Abrego Garcia and other detainees to Texas, where on March 15, they were loaded onto planes and deported, the Senators wrote.
Court records show Garcia was granted “withholding of removal” in 2019 after an immigration judge determined he would face likely torture if sent back to El Salvador. That status, under section 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, legally prohibits his return to that country.
The Trump administration at the time did not appeal the ruling. ICE later admitted in court filings that Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.”
Despite that, federal officials claimed there was “nothing it could do” now that Garcia is under the jurisdiction of the Salvadoran government — which, under a US financial agreement, is reportedly being paid to house deported migrants.
"Abrego Garcia was reportedly on the only plane that was not sent under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act but instead was transporting migrants with formal removal orders signed by a judge," they explained.
"This occurred despite the fact that ICE knew, as the Administration conceded in court, that his protected legal status specifically prohibited his removal to El Salvador."
Now, the Senators are insisting that ICE acting Director Tedd Lyons and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem take the steps to rectify the mistake.
"The Administration’s mass deportation agenda does not transcend immigration law or the need for due process," they wrote.
"And when the Administration makes a mistake as severe as sending an individual with protected status to a foreign prison, it cannot simply shrug off responsibility and allege that there is nothing it can do to reunite him with his wife and child, who are American citizens."
A US District Court judge has already ordered the government to return Garcia, and the Fourth Circuit denied the administration’s attempt to delay the ruling. Still, Garcia remains at CECOT — far from his family.
“Your unwillingness to immediately rectify this ‘administrative error’ is unacceptable,” the letter reads. “Under multiple Democratic and Republican administrations, DHS and ICE worked to quickly return people who were wrongfully deported.”
The senators are now demanding transparency and answers from DHS and ICE.
Their letter includes seven direct questions, including why Garcia’s protected status wasn’t properly considered and whether the government is aware of other unlawful deportations.
They are also requesting a copy of the agreement between the US and El Salvador related to housing deportees in CECOT.
Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have both made public claims that Garcia is affiliated with MS-13; however, the government has provided no evidence to support those accusations and did not raise them in court, the lawmakers noted.
In fact, the judge in Garcia’s case found he was fleeing gang threats — not participating in them.
Garcia’s supporters, legal advocates, and family have been pleading for weeks for his return.
"To anybody that can hear my voice, help us by calling your legislators to bring awareness to my husband’s case and demand they do everything they can to bring Kilmar home," his wife, Jennifer wrote in a GoFundMe campaign, adding, "and protect all immigrant families, who too can also be disappeared, in the blink of an eye, like my husband was.”
The letter was signed by both of Maryland’s US Senators — Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, the newly elected successor to Sen. Ben Cardin — along with key Democrats like Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, and Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin.
They gave the administration until April 22 to respond.
The complete letter can be found here.
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