Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, US man with no criminal charges deported to El Salvador?

A sheet metal apprentice with over a decade in the US, Abrego Garcia was deported under the Trump administration over unsubstantiated claims of MS-13 gang affiliation.

Judges all the way up to the Supreme Court have ruled that Garcia was deported in error and that the US government should help “facilitate” his return to his home in Maryland.

No criminal charges have ever been brought against him in the US, and his legal team has consistently denied the allegations but White House has said that he “will never live” in the country again.

Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

Born in Los Nogales, El Salvador, in July 1995, Abrego Garcia grew up amid gang threats and extortion. At 16, he fled to the US in 2012, seeking safety and a better future. Settling in Maryland with his US citizen brother, he eventually married a US citizen, became a father of three, and joined a local trade union as a sheet metal apprentice.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., accompanied by Cesar Abrego Garcia, from left, and Cecilia Garcia, speaks during a news conference upon his arrival from meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Arrest

His legal troubles began in March 2019 when he was detained outside a Home Depot in Hyattsville, Maryland. Authorities accused him and three other men of gang affiliation, based on clothing and a tip from an unnamed source. But no charges were filed, and records later revealed inconsistencies in the police documentation. One of the arresting officers, Ivan Mendez, was later convicted of misconduct in a separate case.

Despite the allegations, an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia protection from deportation, citing a “well-founded fear” of persecution by gangs in El Salvador. He was granted withholding of removal status and allowed to remain in the US under supervision.

On March 15, 2025, Abrego Garcia was suddenly deported to El Salvador in violation of the judge’s order. The Biden administration has since argued it lacks jurisdiction to return him, despite being instructed by a federal judge—and later the Supreme Court—to “facilitate” his return.

He is now imprisoned in one of El Salvador’s megaprison facilities. His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, insists he is a victim of wrongful deportation, describing him as a hardworking family man.

Meeting with US senator

On April 17, Abrego Garcia was briefly released from prison to meet US Senator Chris Van Hollen, marking his first contact with anyone outside prison since his detention. “He said he felt very sad about being in a prison because he had not committed any crimes,” Van Hollen shared. The senator later called the deportation an “illegal abduction.”

In this photo released by Senator Van Hollen’s press office, Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Press Office Senator Van Hollen, via AP)

However, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed afterward that Garcia would remain behind bars, though he had been declared in good health.

The Department of Homeland Security has continued to level allegations against him, including a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop where human trafficking was suspected—but again, no charges were filed. DHS also referenced a 2021 temporary restraining order filed and later dropped by his wife. She defended her husband, saying, “No one is perfect… That is not a justification for ICE’s action of abducting him and deporting him.”