Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and legally protected immigrant, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March 2025 due to what the Trump administration called an “administrative error.” Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to facilitate his return, Abrego Garcia, who was deported without due process, remained imprisoned in El Salvador until June 2025. He was subsequently taken to a Nashville, Tennessee prison and was held there until August 2025. He was taken back into ICE custody that month following an immigration check-in, and a judge ruled that he cannot be deported for now.
Initially, Attorney General Pam Bondi firmly stated that Abrego Garcia was “not coming back to our country,” asserting that the decision to return him belonged with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who also declined to facilitate his release.
Learn more about Abrego Garcia and the ongoing efforts surrounding his deportation below.
Who Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 at the age of 16 and was initially considered an undocumented resident. In 2019, he was arrested for loitering while looking for work outside a Home Depot. Despite the arrest, an immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal” status — a legal protection that allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. if they face threats to their safety in their home country.
Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador as a teenager to escape gang violence. According to The Hill, members of the Barrio 18 gang had threatened to kill him while trying to extort money from his mother’s pupusa business. After arriving in the U.S., he built a life in Maryland. He was granted a federal work permit and became a metal worker and union member, according to his legal team. TIME reported that court records also show Garcia got married and was raising three children with disabilities.
On March 12, 2025, Abrego Garcia was suddenly pulled over by federal immigration agents while driving with his 5-year-old son. Agents accused him of being a member of MS-13 and falsely claimed that his protected immigration status had changed. The accusation was reportedly based on a tip from an informant who alleged that Abrego Garcia was affiliated with the gang’s New York branch — despite the fact that he has never lived in New York. Abrego Garcia was never charged with a crime and has denied all allegations.
Why Was Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deported to El Salvador?
Abrego Garcia was deported amid a broader crackdown by the Trump administration, which was rapidly organizing charter flights to El Salvador to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants. These individuals were accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang and were deported under the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th-century wartime law that gives the president authority to remove non-citizens during times of national conflict.
In February 2025, the Trump administration officially designated MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization and launched aggressive efforts to remove suspected members. As part of that policy, officials have signaled intentions to continue deporting non-citizens to CECOT — El Salvador’s mega prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center — even in cases like Abrego Garcia’s, where evidence of gang affiliation is unclear or disputed.
When Will Kilmar Abrego Garcia Come Home?
It remains unclear when — or if — Abrego Garcia will return to the U.S., especially after El Salvador’s president publicly refused to facilitate his return.
Following the White House’s admission that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an “administrative error,” the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the government on April 10 to facilitate his return. However, after the Trump administration failed to comply, particularly in light of public comments from Trump and Bukele indicating that Abrego Garcia would not be brought back, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued a new order on April 15, 2025. In her written ruling, Judge Xinis called for the testimony of four Trump administration officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department.
Attorney General Bondi repeatedly claimed that Abrego Garcia was in the U.S. illegally and argued that the United States is not responsible for bringing him back.
“He is an illegal alien who has been living illegally in our country from El Salvador. ICE testified, an immigration judge ruled he was a member of MS-13. An appellate judge ruled he was a member of MS-13. Hard stop,” Bondi said at a press briefing on April 16. “He should not be in our country.”
However, Bondi appeared to reverse course by announcing that Abrego Garcia had returned to the states to face federal criminal charges: conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.
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