{"id":134008,"date":"2025-04-17T06:25:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T06:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/new-documents-detail-governments-case-that-mistakenly-deported-man-was-a-gang-member-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T06:25:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T06:25:03","slug":"new-documents-detail-governments-case-that-mistakenly-deported-man-was-a-gang-member-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/new-documents-detail-governments-case-that-mistakenly-deported-man-was-a-gang-member-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"New documents detail government's case that mistakenly deported man was a gang member – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Trump administration released documents Wednesday that revealed new details <\/strong>in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia<\/a>, a Maryland man deported to El Salvador a month ago in what a government lawyer called an \u201cadministrative error.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0
The documents were released after weeks of pressure on the government to prove its contention that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. The Trump administration sent him to a notorious megaprison<\/a> in the Central American country as part of its promised deportation program of alleged criminals. \u00a0
The Justice Department<\/a> shared records, not previously made public, detailing how police officers in Maryland assessed Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang during an arrest in 2019. He had no criminal history at the time, which the documents also state, <\/strong>and his attorneys have denied that he is a gang member.\u00a0
In a document titled \u201cgang field interview sheet,\u201d the Prince George\u2019s County Police Department detailed how in March 2019 it approached Abrego Garcia along with three other people for loitering at a Home Depot parking lot in Hyattsville. Abrego Garcia said in a court filing<\/a> that he was there looking for day labor work.\u00a0
Police said he was wearing \u201ca Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents\u201d on the bills. \u00a0
The officers said such insignia \u2014 indicating \u201cver, oir, y callar\u201d or \u201csee no evil, hear no evil and say no evil\u201d \u2014 was \u201cindicative of the Hispanic gang culture.\u201d The officers said they consulted with a reliable confidential source, who \u201cadvised that [Abrego Garcia] is the rank of \u2018Chequeo\u2019 with the moniker of \u2018Chele\u2019\u201d in the gang. \u00a0
Abrego Garcia was handed over to immigration authorities, and he wound his way through the legal process<\/a>. Later in 2019, an immigration judge barred him from being sent to El Salvador. The order said he proved he had a \u201cwell-founded fear of future persecution\u201d from local gangs, and he was granted a withholding of removal\u00a0to the country, which allowed him to stay in the United States temporarily and receive a work permit. \u00a0
Years later, in 2025, immigration agents stopped Abrego Garcia in an Ikea parking lot. He was deported to El Salvador days later, on March 15.\u00a0
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the government must \u201cfacilitate\u201d his release<\/a> from the prison. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele<\/a> said in a meeting at the White House this week that he would not release Abrego Garcia.\u00a0
In response to social media posts by DHS on Wednesday<\/a>, his attorneys noted: \u201cThis statement underscores the importance of due process, access to counsel, and the government\u2019s obligation to comply with the United States Supreme Court\u2019s unanimous decision.\u201d\u00a0
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Wednesday, \u201cWe hear far too much in the mainstream media about sob stories of gang members and criminal illegals and not enough about their victims.\u201d \u00a0
Police determined during the 2019 arrest that two other people who were with Abrego Garcia in the Home Depot parking lot were gang members, <\/strong>citing one man\u2019s criminal history and <\/strong>another man\u2019s tattoos, as well as information from an unidentified person who was a \u201cpast proven and reliable source of information.\u201d\u00a0
The documents said that the four men said they were citizens of El Salvador and were \u201cpresent in the United States illegally\u201d and that they did not have immigration documents on them. \u00a0
Another document released Wednesday, from the Department of Homeland Security in 2019, said police identified two men, one of whom was Abrego Garcia, as being having been previously detained in a murder investigation. Abrego Garcia denied being connected to a murder investigation, the documents say, and he was never charged. \u00a0
A page of the document includes a contradiction \u2014 at one point it says Abrego Garcia did not claim a fear of returning to his country, but later it says he did claim fear of returning to El Salvador. \u00a0
The document said Abrego Garcia claimed he had presented sufficient evidence to refute the gang allegation, including character references and his lack of criminal record, minus traffic offenses.\u00a0
In another document from the Justice Department\u2019s Executive Office of Immigration Review, a court agreed to deny Abrego Garcia bond after his arrest outside the Home Depot in 2019 and wrote that the allegation that he is a gang member \u201cappears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record\u201d in the Prince George\u2019s County police documents.\u00a0
\u201cThe reason for the Respondent\u2019s arrest given on his Form 1-213 does appear at odds with the Gang Field Interview Sheet, which states that the Respondent was approached because he and others were loitering outside of Home Depot,\u201d the document said, but it added that it still found the allegations of his gang membership to be supported.\u00a0
Abrego Garcia responded that \u201cthere is no reliable evidence in the record to support\u201d that he is a member of MS-13 and that the allegation \u201cis based on hearsay relayed by a confidential source.\u201d\u00a0
Aside from the new documents, the Department of Homeland Security posted on social media earlier Wednesday that Abrego Garcia\u2019s wife had sought a temporary protective order against him in 2021. The case was ultimately dismissed. Abrego Garcia\u2019s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has been a strong, vocal supporter of her husband and has fought for his return.\u00a0\u00a0
\u201cAfter surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated,\u201d Vasquez Sura said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cThings did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process.\u00a0
\u201cNo one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. That is not a justification for ICE\u2019s action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation,\u201d she added.\u00a0
Meanwhile, the Trump administration, Abrego Garcia\u2019s lawyers and an appeals court judge continue to litigate the Supreme Court\u2019s instruction that the government facilitate his release. \u00a0
The Trump administration Wednesday afternoon filed an appeal of U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis\u2019 order last Thursday to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in which she directed the Trump administration to \u201ctake all available steps to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States as soon as possible.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0
Xinis questioned the evidence an immigration judge used to determine that Abrego Garcia is a gang member. She said in a ruling that he has no criminal record in the United States or El Salvador and that the \u201c\u2018evidence\u2019 against Abrego Garcia consisted only of his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and a vague, uncorroborated allegation from a confidential informant claiming he belonged to MS-13\u2019s \u2018Western\u2019 clique in New York \u2014 a place he has never lived.\u201d\u00a0
Xinis said Tuesday that she was considering contempt proceedings<\/a> against\u00a0the Trump administration<\/a>.\u00a0
She had ordered the government to supply evidence of efforts it has have taken to \u201cfacilitate\u201d Abrego Garcia\u2019s release, and on Tuesday she criticized the government\u2019s lack of response.\u00a0
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten nothing,\u201d Xinis said. \u201cI\u2019ve gotten no real response and no real legal justification for not answering.\u201d\u00a0
In a court-ordered daily status update, DHS general counsel Joseph Mazzara wrote, \u201cGiven the government\u2019s prior clear and unequivocal notice to the court regarding how the government will facilitate Abrego Garcia\u2019s return within the counters of existing law and regulation, there are no further updates.\u201d\u00a0
Daniella Silva is a national reporter for NBC News, focusing on immigration and education.
Laura Strickler is a senior investigative producer and reporter for NBC News. She is based in Washington.
Gary Grumbach is a NBC News Legal Affairs Reporter, based in Washington, D.C.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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