Trump Administration Admits Maryland Man Sent to El Salvador Prison by Mistake

Washington, D.C., April 1, 2025 – The Trump administration conceded late Monday that it erroneously deported a Maryland resident, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) on March 15, despite a court order protecting him from removal to his home country. The admission, detailed in a federal court filing, marks a rare acknowledgment of error in the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, but officials argue they are powerless to retrieve him from Salvadoran custody—a stance that has sparked outrage and legal pushback.

An “Administrative Error” with Dire Consequences

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran who fled gang violence as a teenager, had lived legally in Maryland since 2019 under a “withholding of removal” status, granted by an immigration judge who found he faced persecution if returned to El Salvador. Married to a U.S. citizen and father to a 5-year-old disabled son, he worked as a sheet metal apprentice until March 12, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him in Baltimore. Three days later, he was on a plane to CECOT—a sprawling mega-prison known for its harsh conditions—amid a Trump-ordered deportation surge targeting alleged gang members.

The DOJ filing, submitted to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, labels the deportation an “administrative error.” ICE Acting Field Office Director Robert L. Cerna wrote, “Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed… due to an oversight.” The blunder occurred during a chaotic operation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which saw over 260 Salvadorans and Venezuelans sent to CECOT on three flights—two targeting suspected Tren de Aragua gang members, and a third, carrying Abrego Garcia, under standard immigration rules.

A Family Torn Apart

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, identified him in a Salvadoran government photo released March 16, showing shackled deportees with shaved heads being frog-marched into CECOT. “I saw his tattoos and scars—I knew it was him,” she told CNN, recounting their last phone call from a Texas ICE facility on March 15. Since then, she’s had no contact with her husband, leaving her and their son in limbo. Attorneys Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg and Avraham Moskowitz, representing the family, filed a lawsuit March 28 demanding his return and a halt to U.S. payments to El Salvador—reportedly $6 million annually—for housing deportees.

The complaint alleges Abrego Garcia has no criminal record or proven gang ties, despite ICE’s claims of MS-13 affiliation stemming from a 2019 incident where he was detained with others outside a Home Depot but never charged. “The government has never produced evidence to support this accusation,” the filing states, painting his deportation as a “grotesque display of power without law.”

DOJ’s Hands-Tied Defense

Despite admitting the mistake, the Trump administration insists it can’t act. “This Court should defer to the government’s determination that Abrego Garcia will not likely be tortured or killed in El Salvador,” DOJ attorneys argued, asserting that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over someone in foreign custody. They claim the removal was in “good faith,” based on a final removal order and alleged gang ties—assertions contested by his legal team, who say the gang label relies on flimsy evidence like a confidential informant’s unverified tip and his wearing a Chicago Bulls hat.

The filing downplays CECOT’s reputation, where human rights groups like Cristosal report overcrowding, torture, and 261 deaths since 2022. “There’s no clear showing Abrego Garcia himself is likely to be tortured,” the DOJ contends, a position Sandoval-Moshenberg calls “shocking.” He told The Atlantic, “They’re saying the immigration laws are meaningless if the government can deport whoever they want and no court can fix it.”

Political Fallout and Public Reaction

The case has ignited a firestorm. Vice President JD Vance defended the deportation on X, falsely calling Abrego Garcia a “convicted MS-13 gang member” and mocking critics like Jon Favreau of Pod Save America, who decried the “innocent father” narrative. Vance later corrected the timeline—erroneously tying it to Biden’s term—but stood by the gang claim, unsupported by court records. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin doubled down, alleging “intelligence reports” link him to MS-13 and human trafficking, though no specifics were provided.

Posts on X reflect the divide: some cheer the deportation as tough-on-crime justice, others slam it as “state-sanctioned cruelty.” Immigration advocates, including the ACLU, have seized on the error to challenge Trump’s broader policy, which has deported hundreds to CECOT—many, like Venezuelans with tattoos, on scant evidence. A federal judge’s temporary block on further Alien Enemies Act deportations adds pressure, with Abrego Garcia’s case now before Judge Xinis, an Obama appointee, on Friday.

A Test of Accountability

As the administration digs in—citing Trump’s “primacy in foreign affairs”—Abrego Garcia’s fate tests the limits of U.S. immigration authority and accountability. His family’s plea to withhold El Salvador funding faces an uphill battle against a government claiming its hands are tied, even as it pays millions to keep him jailed. For now, a Maryland man who fled violence at 16 sits in a foreign prison, a stark symbol of a policy caught between error and intransigence.