Trump Admin Stands by Deportation of Alleged MS-13 Gangbanger

The Trump administration is standing by its deportation of an illegal migrant from El Salvador, alleging that the individual is a member of the “brutal” MS-13 gang and is believed to be involved in human trafficking.

In a Monday court filing, the Trump administration acknowledged that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who unlawfully entered the United States, was recently removed from the country due to an administrative error. However, a top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official argued that Garcia should be kept in law enforcement custody — regardless of whatever country that may be.

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The statement follows Garcia’s transfer in March to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum security mega-prison in El Salvador that was built to hold documented MS-13 gangbangers and other members of notorious crime syndicates. His placement into the famous prison has sparked outrage from Democrats and other critics of the Trump administration.

Garcia claims he left his home country of El Salvador to escape gang violence and unlawfully crossed into the U.S. around 2011, according to court documents submitted by his attorney. He eventually made his way to Maryland and began a relationship with his now-wife, Vasquez Sura, who is an American citizen.

Allegations of Garcia’s connection to organized crime began in March 2019 when officers from Prince George’s County Police Department arrested him {snip}

However, after Garcia was transferred into ICE custody and was undergoing removal proceedings, the agency presented documentation compiled by the Prince George’s County Police Department that ostensibly verified his gang affiliation. A confidential informant additionally advised that he was a documented member of MS-13, a transnational criminal organization tied to Salvadoran nationals.

By June 2019, Garcia married Sura while he remained in detention, according to court documents. In October of that same year, he was granted a protected status known as “withholding of removal” after an immigration judge agreed with his contention that he would likely be persecuted by gangs if deported back to El Salvador.

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The administration has since deported a growing number of illegal migrants to CECOT, including alleged MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangbangers. Garcia is now among those CECOT transfers.

On March 12, ICE officers pulled Garcia over after he completed a work shift in the Baltimore area, informed him that his status had changed and took him into custody, according to court documents. {snip}

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{snip} However, the White House is also making no apology for his deportation, standing by investigative assessments that he is an MS-13 gang member.

“The administration maintains the position that this individual, who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country, was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. “Fact number two, we also have credible evidence that this individual was involved in human trafficking.”

“And fact number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang, which this president has designated as a foreign terrorist organization,” Leavitt continued. {snip}

In court documents, counsel for the administration noted that Garcia is prohibited from disputing that he is a danger to the community due to his MS-13 membership, a factual finding that was established in his bond proceedings. He attempted to appeal this finding before the Board of Appeals, but the body deemed it “not clearly erroneous.”

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