BALTIMORE, Md. — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Maryland resident originally from El Salvador, remains imprisoned in a Salvadoran mega-prison after being deported by U.S. authorities on March 15, 2025 — in violation of a court order protecting him from removal. The deportation has prompted a legal and diplomatic dispute between the United States and El Salvador, with potential implications for federal compliance, immigrant protections, and judicial authority.
Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador at age 16 in 2011 to escape threats from the Barrio 18 gang, which had extorted his family and attempted to recruit him. He settled in Maryland, where he worked in construction, married U.S. citizen Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and became the father of three U.S.-born children, all with special needs.
In March 2019, he was arrested by Prince George’s County police while seeking day labor work at a Home Depot parking lot. A co-arrestee alleged he was a gang member, and ICE agents cited his attire — a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie — as indicators of MS-13 affiliation. No criminal charges were filed. An immigration judge later found no credible evidence linking him to gang activity and granted him “withholding of removal,” a legal status that bars deportation due to a credible threat of harm if returned to his country of origin.
Unlike asylum, withholding of removal does not confer permanent residency, but it legally prohibits the U.S. government from deporting the recipient. That protection was disregarded when ICE detained Abrego Garcia in Baltimore and placed him on a flight with more than 200 others labeled as gang affiliates. The Department of Homeland Security later acknowledged the error but has not reversed the removal. He was transferred shortly after arrival to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security facility built for high-risk detainees.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia called the deportation a “Kafkaesque mistake,” citing not only its illegality but the apparent absence of any verification process before his removal. His legal team filed an emergency motion that prompted U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to order the federal government to return him. The Supreme Court affirmed that order in a unanimous ruling on April 10, stating the deportation was unlawful and instructing the administration to “facilitate” his return.
As of April 14, the situation remains unresolved. President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has informed U.S. officials that his government will not release Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration claims it has made multiple diplomatic requests but maintains that the court’s ruling stops short of requiring the executive branch to retrieve someone from foreign custody. Advocates argue this is a deliberate misreading of the order.
Meanwhile, Judge Xinis has demanded regular updates from the Department of Justice and may consider holding federal officials in contempt if they continue to delay. Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told reporters, “We are not going to accept the government’s generic and unsubstantiated assertions that they’re working on this, that they’re considering it, that they’re debating it, that they’re taking steps. We are also going to be insisting that they provide specific, concrete details to the court.”
The legal standoff escalated further on April 16, 2025, as Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg announced he would launch proceedings to determine whether Trump administration officials should be held in criminal contempt for defying a similar order in a separate but parallel case involving Venezuelan migrants. Despite Supreme Court intervention redirecting the main legal questions away from his court, Boasberg emphasized the government’s “willful disregard” of his previous orders and vowed to “get to the bottom” of the issue, potentially setting precedent for contempt proceedings in Abrego Garcia’s case.
The case develops amid ongoing immigration enforcement actions by the Trump administration, which resumed mass deportations and workplace raids after returning to office in January. In late March, ICE conducted an operation at Old McDonald’s Farm in Sackets Harbor, New York, which drew national attention and led to the release of several detainees. In Maryland, immigrant communities on the Eastern Shore report reduced public activity, with concerns about enforcement actions at locations such as churches, clinics, and schools.
In response, Maryland lawmakers have fast-tracked the “Sensitive Locations” bill, restricting ICE operations near key community spaces. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has also indicated possible legal action if federal agencies continue to disregard court directives in the Abrego Garcia case.
Advocates stress this case is about whether federal agencies can disregard court orders without consequences, warning that tens of thousands of similarly protected immigrants nationwide could be at risk. Internal whistleblowers have reportedly faced discipline for acknowledging protocol violations within the Department of Justice.
As of April 16, Abrego Garcia remains detained at CECOT and has not been in contact with his family in Maryland since his removal. His community continues to call for action as legal protections remain in place.
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