The US said on Monday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man living in the state of Maryland who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration three months ago, will never return to America a free man.
“We have said it for months and it remains true to this day: he will never go free on American soil,” US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in on X.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien,” McLaughlin claimed.
Abrego Garcia, 30, was detained on March 12 and mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison with nearly 200 undocumented immigrants by the Trump administration during a nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid that targeted alleged Salvadoran and Venezuelan gang members. After months of protests, he was returned to the US earlier this month, but not to freedom but to face new criminal charges brought by the US government.
Abrego Garcia’s case has raised questions over the legality of ICE’s immigration’s sweeping detentions after he was mistakenly deported without a court hearing, despite a 2019 order protecting him from removal due to fear of persecution.
US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes said the government has so far failed to prove the new charges against Abrego Garcia, which include human smuggling and attempts to obstruct justice. His attorney characterized the allegations as an attempt by the US government to justify the mistaken deportation after the fact.
“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community,” Holmes said.
Holmes has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the conditions of his release from jail during his trial.
