US Wrongly Deports Salvadoran Despite Court Order

The White House has stated that Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national who was wrongly deported from Maryland to El Salvador, will "never" be allowed to live in the US again. Despite a Maryland judge ordering the Trump administration to bring Ábrego García back to the US, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, doubled down on accusations that he was a member of the MS-13 gang and had a history of domestic violence, claims denied by his lawyer and family. Ábrego García was deported on March 15 to a mega-prison in El Salvador, and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said he did not have the power to return him.

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen was denied a meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, during a trip to the country. Van Hollen met with El Salvador's Vice President Félix Ulloa instead, who indicated that a meeting with Abrego Garcia might not be possible. Abrego Garcia was deported despite having a "withholding of removal" order from an immigration judge, and his case has sparked court proceedings, with a federal judge and the Supreme Court ordering his return to the US. The Trump administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, but his attorney and family deny this, and a US federal court judge has found no evidence to support the claim. Van Hollen criticized the Trump administration for lying about Abrego Garcia's case and questioned why El Salvador is still holding him in a supermax prison, CECOT.

A bereaved mother, Patty Morin, shared her story at the White House about her daughter Rachel's brutal rape and murder in 2023, which was committed by a fugitive from El Salvador. The Trump administration used her testimony to support its mass deportation policy, drawing a connection between the crime and immigration policy, despite controversy surrounding the deportation of a man named Kimar Albrega Garcia, who was sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador due to "administrative error" without due process.

The White House has criticized Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man wrongly deported by the Trump administration despite a court order preventing his removal. The administration acknowledged the deportation was due to an "administrative error" but claimed Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang. A US federal judge has warned that the administration could be held in contempt for violating his orders to stop deportations, and has given the government a deadline to comply. The White House has vowed to seek "immediate appellate relief".

Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, a woman killed by an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador in 2023, spoke at a White House briefing, recounting her daughter's murder. The appearance came as a federal judge threatened to investigate the Trump administration for contempt of court over its deportation flights to El Salvador. The administration used Morin's story to highlight the dangers posed by migrants, a talking point among Trump's supporters, despite statistics showing immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than American citizens. The briefing also criticized Senator Chris Van Hollen for advocating for the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, whom the administration falsely claimed was a member of the MS-13 gang and a perpetrator of spousal abuse.