When will we actually learn the truth about what has occurred with regard to Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
As the above title suggests, there are often two sides to every story.
(Most of what follows has been dissected from the Epoch Times.)
First off it appears that what is not contested is that Mr. Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien.
The background:
Because of ongoing threats from Barrio 18 (a rival gang in El Salvador), Abrego Garcia left El Salvador. At his relatives’ urging, he fled to America—a step his brother had already taken. Several court records say he came to the United States in 2011, although Maryland police stated that Abrego Garcia set his arrival at a more specific date, about March 25, 2012.
He told police that he had “walked across the desert for many days” before illegally crossing the border near McAllen, Texas, at the state’s southern tip near the Mexico border. That’s according to a police record created when Abrego Garcia was arrested with verified MS-13 gang members in Prince George’s County, Maryland in front of a Home Depot. Abrego Garcia says that he was there only to look for work.
The government says that he was with his friends and … “Officers know MS-13 gang members are only allowed to hang around other members or prospects for the gang,” the record reads.
Abrego Garcia was also wearing a Chicago Bulls hat to signify that he was an MS-13 member “in good standing,” police stated.
“A past proven and reliable source of information” told police that Abrego Garcia was active with the gang’s “Westerns clique” and gave his rank and gang nickname, “Chele.”
The report states that Abrego Garcia had $1,178 in cash and that marijuana was found at the scene. As a result of that arrest, authorities launched deportation proceedings against him.
Now here’s where the issue gets complicated.
Citing the circumstances, judges denied Abrego Garcia bail. They also rejected his request for asylum.
In October 2019, a judge granted an order withholding his removal. That 2019 withholding order blocked U.S. officials from sending Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador. The judge’s decision to keep him out of El Salvador was based on evidence that he was in danger from the Barrio 18 gang there.
After the October 2019 withholding order led to Abrego Garcia’s release, he complied with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s requirement for him to “check-in” with them once per year.
Police “never again questioned him” about the alleged gang affiliations after the 2019 arrest at the Home Depot, his lawyers said.
As more than five years had passed, Abrego Garcia was living his normal life. That suddenly changed on March 12. While he was returning home from his shift as a sheet metal worker apprentice in Baltimore, U.S. immigration officers pulled him over. They said that his “status has changed.”
Confronted with outrage over Abrego Garcia’s deportation, federal authorities pointed to at least two reports that raised additional concerns about him. One came from his wife. … In 2021, Abrego Garcia’s wife requested a temporary protection order against him, alleging violent behavior, according to court records.
Additionally, in Tennessee a state trooper stopped Abrego Garcia for speeding in 2022. At that time Abrego Garcia was found to be transporting seven people from Texas to Maryland, and he had no driver’s license.
Although not spelled out in detail, my guess is that the argument from liberal Democrats goes something like this:
Yes, Mr. Garcia had been a member of MS-13 as a youth in El Salvador, but was forced to flee because of threats from a rival
gang. Other than being with some MS-13 gang members many years ago while he was trying to find work, there has not been any further affiliation with MS-13. His knuckle tattoos are from his youth before he fled to the U.S.
Yes, he has a history of violence back in 2021, but now is a respected family man with a job, a wife, a son, and two step-children.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a changed man and deserves are sympathy, and since he is a productive individual should not be deported.
What should happen to him?
Like I said, there are usually two sides to a story.
Take your pick.
4/23/25