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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a longtime Prince George’s County resident, was taken into custody by immigration agents in March 2025 while picking up his son from his grandmother’s house. Agents falsely told him his protected status had changed, according to court records.
He was detained, transferred to Texas, and put on a deportation flight to El Salvador, despite a 2019 court order barring his removal due to the risk of torture.
Now, he’s being held at El Salvador’s CECOT facility — a maximum-security prison widely criticized for its alleged human rights abuses. Garcia has not been charged with a crime.
Over the weekend, the US State Department confirmed he is “alive and secure,” but offered no timeline for his return.
A federal judge had ordered the government to make “reasonable efforts” to bring him back. That hasn’t happened.
Garcia is one of more than 250 Venezuelans and Salvadorans deported under a Trump-era agreement to send suspected gang members to CECOT, which houses both convicted and unconvicted prisoners.
ICE later admitted Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error.”
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.”
More immigrants are expected to be shipped out to El Salvador, according to reports, though Abrego Garcia's status remains on hold as of Monday, April 14.
Trump, meanwhile, praised Bukele for accepting “some of the most violent alien enemies of the world,” on Truth Social.
“These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador,” Trump said. “They will never threaten or menace our citizens again.”
But Garcia — a father with legal protections and no criminal record — remains inside.
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