Who is Kilmar Abrego García and why was he deported to the Megacárcel of El Salvador?

El Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego García29 years old, he was deported to his country he March 15, 2025. Three days before he had been arrested by agents of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) In Baltimore, Maryland, while returning home with his son. They did not show him a court order, they only told him that his immigration status had changed. Currently, it is held in the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), the Megacárcel of maximum sedges built by Bukele for the most dangerous criminals.

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On March 31, in a document introduced in the District Court of Maryland, the lawyers of the Department of Justice They acknowledged that Abrego García was deported to El Salvador for an “administrative error.” However, they insisted that he was a member of the gang MS-13 In the United States.

Ábrego, undocumented immigrant, was under the protection of justice. In 2019, an immigration judge had ruled that It should not be sent to El Salvador due to the risk of persecution by gangs in that country. Specifically, the judge claimed that Mara Barrio 18 had been threatening death for the pupusa business of her family.

On April 4, at a hearing in Maryland, the District Judge Paula Xinis He ordered that Abrego be returned to the United States. He cataloged his deportation as “completely illegal.”

April 10, the Supreme Court of the United States He issued a unanimous decision where he determined that Ábrego deportation was illegal and said that The US government must “facilitate” its liberationn. However, he did not explicitly order his immediate return to the United States, leaving room for interpretation by the Executive.

After the Supreme Court decision, the judge Xinis demanded that Trump’s government give him daily reports on the situation of Salvadoran and of the efforts made by the Executive to bring him back to the United States.

In the first report, the government briefly confirmed that Abrego was in the CECOT and that it was fine.

April 14 Bukele He was in the White House, where he was received by Trump. Before the question of the press about whether he will return to the United States to Ábrego replied: “How do I return it to the United States? The traffic to the United States? Of course I am not going to do it. The question is absurd. How can I traffic a terrorist to the United States? I do not have the power to return to the United States. “He added that he could not free him in his country.

Trump government officials supported Bukele’s words.

The matter climbed last Tuesday, when the judge Xinis He suggested that he was considering Start a contempt process against the Trump administration.

He also warned government lawyers to order them take affidavits to determine if they have fulfilled the judicial orders to bring back to the Salvadoran.

“To date, what the records indicate is that nothing has been done,” he said.

Xinis dismissed the statements of Monday of officials of the White House and Bukele And he pointed out that they were “two very disoriented ships that cross at night.”

He emphasized that “the Supreme Court has already ruled” and that what was said in the oval office “was not before this court.”

The judge gave the government two weeks to present evidence of how she is trying to make Ábrego return to the United States and warned that “there will be no tolerance for games or fanfareo.” He also indicated that within that period he will decide whether the government is acting in good faith or if it is incurring contempt.

Drew Ensign, a lawyer for the Department of Justice, said the authorities would comply with the order of the Supreme Court to facilitate the return of Ábrego if it appears at some point of entry to the United States. But then, the National Security Department (DHS) contradicted him.

Joseph Mazzar, DHS counselor, indicated in a judicial document that Ábrego would be arrested if he tried again to enter the United States. He added that the government would send him to another country or ask an immigration judge to revoke the protection granted six years ago to the Salvadoran.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen arrived on Wednesday to El Salvador to request the release of Kilmar Abrego García

Was the division of powers ended?

The lawyer Ysabel Lonazco, specialized in migratory issues and who directs Lonazco Law firm told Commerce how both the US government and Bukele They are clearly disobeying an order from the Supreme Court and They make an erroneous interpretation of it.

“Definitely, not facilitating the return of Mr. Ábrego García sends a difficult message to digest. Does the absolute power executive have? Personally, I think not. I think the judges are impartial and that this process has not yet concluded. I hope that it will have its due process, but I think it will take time, “he said Lonazco.

“The division and balance of powers are the matrix of this country. They have made the United States known in the world as a nation of immigrants, where one can be free to practice their religion, political option, sexual identity, a country of freedoms that has attracted many foreigners,” he noted.

“Maybe I am being very optimistic, but as an immigrant, I trust the balance of powers because I have seen it in action during the first administration of Trumpwhere there were many similar situations. But in the end, the Judiciary helped to do justice to those affected with executive orders, ”he said.

He cited two recent examples where the balance of powers has been imposed: The decision of a federal judge to temporarily block the decision of the Trump government to eliminate the temporal protection status (TPS) For hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants. and the opinion of a judge to prevent the Trump administration from eliminating the Humanitarian parole For Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans

“Justice gave signs that the Executive is not the Almighty before the law,” Lonazco said.

But what happens if finally Ábrego Isn’t it returned? What dangers are looming on other immigrants? Lonazco considered that the work of immigration lawyers will be more complex.

“The Supreme Court has already defined that due process must prevail, which means the right to be heard in front of a judge, the right to know of the positions against the immigrant … I will not deny that this situation is worrisome, and it is natural that the people who read about the case conclude that it is a violation of the division of powers, and that we are in a crisis. However, I think that there is something clear. Immigrants, each is protected by the Constitution … The role of each immigration lawyer is being much more difficult, but not impossible, ”said the lawyer.

Who is Kilmar Abrego García?

Kilmar Abrego García He was born on July 26, 1995 in San Salvador. His father was a police officer and his mother sold pupusas, the typical dish of his country. From an early age, he was exposed to the violence of gangs, which led him to emigrate in search of security and better opportunities.

In accordance with judicial documents presented by his defense, The Barrio 18 gang “used Ábrego García as a pawn in her extortion, demanding her mother to give them or kill them all.”

The family tried to flee these threats. He moved three times inside El Salvador, but always found them.

In 2011, at 16, Ábrego He entered the United States as undocumented. He settled in Maryland, where he lived 14 years.

During that time, He worked in the construction and metallurgical industry sector.

Ábrego married Jennifer Vásquez Sura, American citizen, with whom he had three children. According to judicial records, the three children have special health conditions.

At the beginning of 2019, he was arrested by the County Police Department Prince George while waiting on the outskirts of Hyattsville’s home depot to someone hired their services.

Police asked him if he had links with a gang, But he denied it. Instead of releasing him, he was delivered in custody to ICE.

On March 29 of that year, the Department of National Security began the process for Deport it for entering the country as undocumented.

Almost a month later, he was presented to an immigration judge, where Ábrego He requested asylum and requested protection of deportation and protection under the convention against torture.

The DHS asked to remain under arrest and argued that he presumed that Over’s was a member of the MS-13 gang.

The only evidence presented against him were that He wore a cap and a hoodie of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. In addition, a confidential informant had said that he belonged to a west MS-13 click based in New York. However, their lawyers say He never lived in that city.

In October 2019, an immigration judge rejected the request for asylum of Ábrego, but He granted protection against deportation to El Salvador Due to the risk of persecution by the Barrio 18 gang, which had been threatening to death for the pupusa business of his family.

The DHS did not have the decision, so the protection measures to Ábrego García They entered into force.

As part of its protection against deportation, Ábrego must appear once a year before ICE. The last time he did was on January 2, 2025, without any problem arising.

However, on March 12 ICE stopped him. They told him that His status had changed.

Against Ábrego García does not weigh any criminal accusation in the United States or El Salvador.