Abrego Garcia updates: Senator travels to El Salvador; Trump admin defends deportation
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the case of a man wrongly deported to El Salvador for Wednesday, April 16. For the latest news, view our story for Thursday, April 17.
SAN SALVADOR − The Trump administration defended the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a union sheet metal worker and father of three who Trump's administration admitted was wrongly removed from the country a month ago.
"If he ever ends up back inside the United States, he would immediately be deported again," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. She also raised a series of domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia.
Among them a copy requesting a restraining order following a domestic dispute between Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura. According to the court order from 2021, Abrego “punched and scratched” Vasquez Sura, “ripped off shirt, grabbed and bruised her.”
Asked about the incident, Vasquez Sura told Paste BN in a statement that she had acted out of caution after a disagreement in filing the temporary protective order, which was closed a month after she filed it, according to Prince George’s County records.
"After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated,” Vasquez Sura said. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process.”
Additionally the Justice Department officials released more documents April 16 tied to the 2019 encounter with Abrego Garcia that set off a chain of events culminating in his removal.
Prince George’s County Police officers wrote they responded in March 2019 to the Home Depot in Hyattsville where they found four individuals loitering in the parking lot and detained them for questioning. Abrego Garcia was among them.
Police reported they arrested two individuals identified as active MS-13 members and found two small plastic bottles containing marijuana.
They said Abrego Garcia wore a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie with rolls of money “covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations” indicating his gang allegiance. The report also relies on a confidential informant who indicated Abrego Garcia was an active member of MS-13 with the moniker “Chele.”
His tie to MS-13 relies on a confidential informant, his clothing, and the fact he was around other gang members.
Paste BN asked the White House if these two documents are the sum total evidence that Abrego Garcia belongs to a designated terrorist group.
Harrison Fields, deputy press secretary responded by saying the question was "jaw dropping" and "is being a wife beater not enough? He was here illegally."
For weeks, media organizations advocates and lawyers have prodded the White House and Homeland Security officials to provide more documentation of Abrego Garcia's ties to terrorism, human trafficking and violent gang activities, since he has no criminal history on record.
Leavitt's comments came as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador and is trying to speak to area authorities and Abrego Garcia, who is being held in a notoriously violent prison.
Van Hollen said he spoke with the vice president of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, and asked for a meeting but was refused. He also said he hasn't been able to access the infamous prison – or speak to Abrego Garcia by phone.
“I won’t stop trying, and I can assure the president and the vice president that I may be the first United States senator to visit El Salvador on this issue, but there will be more,” he told reporters. “This is an unsustainable and unjust moment.”
The Supreme Court ruled without dissent on April 10 that the Trump administration "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return − but did send the case back to a federal judge in Maryland for clarification. That judge, Paula Xinis, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, warned Trump administration lawyers on April 15 to comply with the order.
"There will be no tolerance for gamesmanship or grandstanding," Xinis said. "To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been done. Nothing."
Van Hollen in El Salvador: 'An unsustainable and unjust moment'
Van Hollen demanded Wednesday that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele open the doors of a notorious Central American prison and free a Maryland father who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration.
Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to discuss Abrego Garcia's case with Salvadoran officials, described the union sheet metal worker and father of three as “a man who was illegally abducted from the United States and charged with no crime.”
“This is an unsustainable and unjust moment,” he said.
– Will Carless and Michael Collins
Trump administration appeals court ruling to return Abrego Garcia
The Trump administration on April 16 appealed U.S. Judge Paula Xinis’ order to return Abrego Garcia, according to court filings.
On April 15, Xinis, a district court judge in Maryland, ordered Trump administration officials to show steps they are taking to comply with court rulings to release Abrego Garcia from the Salvadoran prison. She allowed his family’s lawyers to take sworn written testimony and documents of government officials.
The next day, the administration appealed the case to the 4th Circuit, based in Virginia. It wasn’t the first time government lawyers had done so. On April 4, after Xinis said officials acted illegally in removing Abrego Garcia and ordered his return to the United States, the Trump administration appealed the case to the 4th Circuit, which upheld Xinis’ ruling.
The administration then asked the Supreme Court to intervene. The high court said the government must take steps to facilitate his return and sent the case back to Xinis to clarify her order.
In an April 16 court-mandated daily status report on Abrego Garcia and his return, the administration said there were "no further updates."
“Given the government's prior clear and unequivocal notice to the Court regarding how the government will facilitate Abrego Garcia's return within the contours of existing law and regulation, there are no further updates,” Joseph Mazzara, acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said in the one-page declaration.
− Eduardo Cuevas
Sen. Chris Van Hollen says he spoke with with Salvadoran vice president, pressed for meeting
In a press conference in El Salvador on April 16, Van Hollen said Ulloa told him that they are still holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the Salvadoran prison CECOT because President Donald Trump is paying the government to keep him imprisoned. Ulloa said El Salvador can’t “smuggle” him into the United States, Van Hollen said.
“I’m not asking him to smuggle Mr. Abrego Garcia in the United States. I’m simply asking him to open the door of CECOT and let this innocent man walk out,” he said.
Van Hollen added that he asked for a meeting today with Garcia and Ulloa, and he refused. Ulloa also could not guarantee that Van Hollen could see Garcia if he came back next week and would not let Van Hollen speak on the phone with him.
“I won’t stop trying, and I can assure the president and the vice president that I may be the first United States senator to visit El Salvador on this issue, but there will be more,” he said. “This is an unsustainable and unjust moment.”
– Riley Beggin
Trump officials could face contempt charges over deportations, judge says
- Trump administration officials could face criminal contempt charges for violating a U.S. federal judge's order halting deportations of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang who had no chance to challenge their removals, the judge said on Wednesday.
In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington found "probable cause" to hold officials in criminal contempt of court, saying the administration demonstrated "willful disregard" for his March 15 order barring the government from deporting alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Many of the migrants' lawyers and family members say those deported are not gang members and were never given a chance to contest the U.S. government's assertion that they were.
The judge's ruling is the closest any judge has come to suggesting the administration could be punished since President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, and escalates the confrontation between the judicial and executive branches.
– Reuters
Trump administration says it has satisified court orders
Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, says the government satisfied the order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return by telling Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that, if El Salvador wants to return Abrego Garcia, the U.S. would provide a plane. Bukele, who met with President Donald Trump on April 14 in Washington, told reporters he does not have the power to return Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center − CECOT, which has been criticized for its harsh and dangerous conditions − along with hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported under the Alien Enemies Act. The 1798 law previously had only been invoked when the U.S. was at war.
Several judges have blocked additional deportations, drawing accusations of judicial overreach from the Trump administration.
Judge provides ‘forceful rebuke,' family lawyers say
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia’s family on April 16 called Xinis’ order a “forceful rebuke of government inaction.” Under Xinis’ April 15 order the case now has a two-week discovery process. The judge will determine whether the Trump administration has complied with court orders to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador.
“This is progress; we’re not done yet,” Rina Gandhi, a lawyer representing the family, said in a statement. “The court has now given us the opportunity to question government officials with direct knowledge and to seek evidence relating to the U.S. agreement with El Salvador.”
Under Xinis' order, Abrego Garcia's family lawyers can submit requests for written responses under oath to written questions and requests for documents by April 16; responses are due back by April 21.
By April 23, lawyers can depose at least four Trump administration officials from the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. There will be an opportunity for two more depositions pending approval.
“Every minute that Kilmar spends inside that prison, his life is at risk,” Ama Frimpong, legal director for CASA, an immigrant rights nonprofit, said in a statement. “The Trump administration cannot continue to further delay the process of returning Kilmar home.”
Trump administration officials and Salvadoran officials have said the United States paid El Salvador $6 million for one year to house hundreds of migrants, including Abrego Garcia. Migrants have been held at CECOT since mid-March after being flown from the United States.
Abrego Garcia's mom battles in court for her son
Abrego Garcia’s mother, Cecilia, said she spent her birthday having to fight for her son’s return from custody in a Salvadoran prison. She has regularly attended court hearings and news conferences alongside Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer, as they have fought for his return in the United States.
In her first public statement, Abrego Garcia’s mother said she once asked God “for the blessing of a beautiful family.”
“This year I had to celebrate my birthday fighting in court for my son, Kilmar,” she said. “My greatest wish is for him to come home, so these important family celebrations are filled with love and laughter, instead of heartache.”
Mother's business had been targeted by gang
Before the family arrived to the United States, Abrego Garcia’s mother ran a pupusería eatery out of their home in San Salvador. The business, Pupusería Cecilia, was targeted and extorted by the 18th Street gang, according to court filings.
The 18th Street gang, a rival of MS-13, pressured Abrego Garcia to join the gang. Around 2011, the family sent Abrego Garcia, then a teenager, to the United States, court records said. He crossed illegally and arrived with his brother, Cesar, in Maryland, where Abrego Garcia has lived since.
In 2019, an immigration judge prohibited Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador after finding he would face persecution by gangs if he were deported to El Salvador.
House Dems want to make 'welfare check' on Abrego Garcia
Two House Democrats are requesting an official congressional delegation to visit to the prison and "conduct a welfare check" on Abrego Garcia. Reps. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., made the request in a letter sent April 15 to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. It comes as other Democrats seek to travel to the prison in El Salvador where Trump has deported hundreds of migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
"Congressional oversight is warranted following President Trump’s recent remarks in which he expressed a desire to send 'homegrown criminals' − including U.S. citizens − to this facility," Garcia and Frost wrote, referencing Trump's suggestion this week that he could send American citizens who commit violent crimes to El Salvador.
− Riley Beggin
Van Hollen had sought meeting with Bukele in Washington
In a video clip on X announcing his departure, Van Hollen said he hopes to see Abrego Garcia and determine the condition he’s in. “We are going to keep fighting because this is a miscarriage of justice,” he said. Though Abrego Garcia is not a U.S. citizen, a federal immigration judge granted him a legal protective order in 2019 that allowed him to stay in the U.S.
On April 14, Van Hollen wrote on X that, "I've been clear: if President Bukele doesn't want to meet here in D.C., then I intend to go to El Salvador this week to check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's condition and discuss his release.”
Other Democrats have also rebuked Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador.
“We must all stand as a united front against the kidnapping and illegal detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” wrote Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost on X.
'Homegrowns are next': Trump floats sending violent American criminals to El Salvador
Trump on Monday suggested his administration could send U.S. citizens who commit violent crimes to El Salvador, telling Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that the "homegrowns are next" and urging him to build more prisons to house them.
Trump brought up the idea ‒ which he's discussed previously ‒ to Bukele in the Oval Office before reporters entered the room for a bilateral meeting. The exchange was captured in a livestream video published on the X account of Bukele's office.
"Homegrown criminals are next," Trump said to Bukele. "I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You've gotta build about five more places."
"Yeah, we've got space," Bukele responded as Trump officials in the room could be heard laughing.
– Joey Garrison
Trump prison plans draw mixed reviews in El Salvador
Political foes of Bukele in El Salvador have accused him of failing to prioritize the rights of Salvadorans abroad. Lawmaker Francisco Lira, of the opposition ARENA party, said the Bukele-Trump meetings have instead focused on prison agreements and labeling people terrorists or gang members without legal justification. He noted that Trump has said there is no limit on the number of people the U.S. could send to El Salvador prisons.
"It's one thing to act as an allied and cooperating nation, but quite another to take on tasks that compromise our sovereignty and security, such as imprisoning criminals, delinquents, and even innocent people from other nations whose only 'crime' was migrating to the United States in search of opportunities their countries of origin didn't offer them," Lira said in a post on X.
Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey George Petras, and Veronica Bravo, Paste BN