Kilmar Abrego Garcia is one of a growing number of people in the United States who have been wrongfully deported by the Trump administration in recent months. 

On March 15, 2025, Abrego Garcia, an immigrant from El Salvador, was illegally deported despite having legal protections to be in the United States. He was living in Maryland with his wife and three children before being taken into custody by ICE agents on March 12. 

Abrego Garcia was deported to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador’s San Vicente department without due process. CECOT is known for human rights violations, such as overcrowding, underfeeding and disregarding due process.

The administration has stated they will not assist in or allow Abrego Garcia’s return, claiming he is a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers and family deny that he had any gang involvement or affiliation at any point in his life. 

Scott Hibbard, the chair of the political science department at DePaul University, said he believes the Trump administration is focusing on gang members and those suspected of gang involvement because they lack popular support and defense, making it easier to deport them.

“The Trump administration is using these extremes as a way of socializing Americans to the idea that we’re going to start deporting people,” Hibbard said. 

President Donald Trump said that he could arrange the return of Kilmar Abgrego Garcia from El Salvador but implied he would not. Administration officials have repeatedly acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was deported without due process last month in violation of a court order granting him asylum in the United States.

Trump’s statement in an April 29 interview directly violates orders from the Supreme Court calling for the return of Abrego Garcia to the U.S. 

Trump’s remarks also contradict previous claims made by administration officials, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said American judges lack jurisdiction in El Salvador. Leavitt also said that because the administration believes Abrego Garcia is a member of a gang, he won’t be allowed to reenter the United States.

Abrego Garcia came to the United States as a teenager to escape gang violence in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. He was undocumented for several years but was granted asylum at an immigration hearing in 2019, fearing he would be targeted by gangs if returned. 

According to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, about 42% of Americans think Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States. Approximately 26% think he should remain in El Salvador. 

Maryland Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia in detention on April 17. Van Hollen met with El Salvador’s Vice President Felix Ulloa and was initially denied a meeting with Abrego Garcia. Hollen was ultimately able to meet with him. 

Democratic Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California also went to El Salvador to raise public awareness of Abrego Garcia’s case on April 20. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited El Salvador in late March, touring CECOT and filming promotional videos for the Trump administration. During his visit with Van Hollen, Abrego Garcia said that he had been moved to a different facility in Santa Ana, about 40 miles away from San Salvador. The facility has better conditions, but Abrego Garcia has no form of outside communication.

Ed Yonkha of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois expressed concern about the potential implications for other future deportations without due process.

“We should applaud elected officials ensuring that Mr. Abrego Garcia is healthy and alive,” Yonkha said. “It continues to raise attention about the administration’s ignoring due process.”

Hibbard said Van Hollen and the interest of other representatives may have saved Abrego Garcia’s life. He also emphasized that in response, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that people deserve due process.

“That’s a huge issue,” Hibbard said. “What defines the essence of democracy is the rule of law, institutions and independent courts.”

In a post on X, the official White House account reposted a screenshot of a New York Times article about Van Hollen’s meeting with Abrego Garcia, saying, “he’s NOT coming back” and replacing the headline with one accusing Abrego Garcia of being a member of MS-13. 

Trump had also repeatedly claimed that tattooed symbols on Abrego Garcia’s fingers indicate that he has gang involvement. Experts disagree.

Jorja Leap, a University of California, Los Angeles professor and gang expert who has testified in multiple court cases, told CNN that no part of the tattoos are “definitively gang representative.”

Nora Sichak, a junior sociology student at DePaul University, said she was not surprised at the administration’s refusal to bring back Abrego Garcia to the United States. 

“They won’t return anyone because that would give credence to (Abrego Garcia’s) case. The Trump administration won’t admit to their mistake,” Sichak said.

Following the April 17 Supreme Court decision that Abrego Garcia must be returned, the case was sent back to lower courts for a U.S. District judge to resolve the technicalities. The Trump administration filed a motion that would allow them to delay answering questions about actions they had taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return. 

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis granted a weeklong reprieve, allowing the administration time to work towards Abrego Garcia’s return and ordering the court documents regarding the status and return of Abrego Garcia to be completed by May 9. 

Last Wednesday, administration officials sent a formal request to officials in El Salvador to inquire about releasing him and President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele declined. It is not clear if the effort was a sincere attempt by the administration to help Abrego Garcia. Bukele and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are reportedly in touch about Abrego Garcia. 

Hibbard called the violation of due process in deportations tragic and criminal.

“They are sending people without due process. Some of these people are not the worst of the worst — they are just caught in the dragnet,” Hibbard said.

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