The Trump administration admitted late Monday that it mistakenly deported a Salvadoran man protected from deportation, sending him to a facility in El Salvador, where they claim they are unable to secure his return.
The filing came in a case brought by the family of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose wife recognized him in footage released of a group of migrants detained in a Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration.
“Although ICE was aware of Abrego Garcia’s protection from removal to El Salvador, he was removed to El Salvador due to an administrative error,” the Justice Department stated in the court filing.
The filing went on to say that they do not believe they can obtain Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, also known as CECOT.
“The United States does not have custody of Abrego Garcia. They acknowledge that there may be ‘difficult questions of redressability’ in this case, reflecting their recognition that the defendants lack ‘the power to produce’ Abrego Garcia from CECOT in El Salvador,” the Justice Department wrote.
“The most they ask for is a court order that the United States entreat—or even cajole—a close ally in its fight against transnational cartels.”
Abrego Garcia applied for asylum in 2019 and was granted protection by an immigration judge, preventing him from being deported.
Nonetheless, he was one of 260 men sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration on allegations of gang membership.
While the majority of those deported were Venezuelans accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a smaller number of Salvadorans were deported on suspicion of being members of the MS-13 gang.
The filing reveals the risks associated with the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to El Salvador without hearings or other review.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have denied any involvement with the gang.
“Although he has been accused of general ‘gang affiliation, the U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation,” they wrote in an initial filing, noting that he fled El Salvador due to gang violence.
The White House disputed that on Tuesday, but provided no evidence of Abrego Garcia’s gang affiliations.
“This individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang, which this president has designated as a foreign terrorist organization,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during her White House briefing.
“Foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore.”
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers claim that he was sent “to El Salvador knowing that he would be immediately incarcerated and tortured in that country’s most notorious prison.”
Abrego Garcia is married to a US citizen and has a “disabled U.S.-citizen child.”
His attorney stated that while the government had numerous methods for questioning his status and seeking to deport him, “defendants found those legal procedures bothersome, so they merely ignored them and deported Plaintiff Abrego Garcia to El Salvador anyway, ripping him away.”
The Trump administration is paying the Salvadoran government $6 million to house migrants at CECOT.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys described the prison’s conditions, which corresponded to the background of a video shared by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after visiting the center.
“Each of the 256 cells is designed to hold approximately 80 inmates, but they frequently hold nearly double. The cramped cells feature tiered metal bunks without mattresses, two washing basins, and two open toilets. “Despite the region’s warm and humid climate, there are no windows, fans, or air conditioning,” they wrote.
“Inmates at CECOT are confined to their cells for 23.5 hours per day and are not allowed to go outside. They are denied access to reading materials, including letters from friends and family. Inmates are not allowed to receive visits from family and friends. Meals are provided through the bars, and strict regulations are enforced to keep the facility in order.”
