Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s mega-prison, CECOT, often labeled the “world’s worst prison.” His deportation was linked to an administrative error under Trump-era immigration policy, which revived a WWII-era law for mass deportations.
Although Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, a judge ruled in 2019 he should not be deported due to threats from gangs in his home country. However, he was mistakenly removed last month. The Supreme Court ordered the government to “facilitate” his return, but El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele refused, saying: “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? … The question is preposterous.”
Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Stefania Vasquez Sura, spoke out emotionally on live TV: “I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn’t forgotten about you.”
Federal Judge Paula Xinis is now considering contempt charges against the Trump administration, stating: “I’ve gotten nothing. I’ve gotten no real response, and no real legal justification for not answering.”
