31 U.S. Senators demand return of Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador
In a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE), 31 U.S. senators, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, demanded the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador on March 15, despite having a protective order granted in 2019 that prohibited his removal to the country due to risks of persecution.
Abrego Garcia was sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a notorious supermax prison. The deportation occurred after ICE agents apprehended him while he was leaving work in Baltimore and picking up his special needs child.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
Although Albrego Garcia has no criminal record in the U.S. or El Salvador, Trump administration officials claim he is an MS-13 gang member and a "danger to the community."
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have argued in court filings that the sole evidence linking him to alleged gang activity comes from a confidential informant who claimed he was an active MS-13 member, along with the fact that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and sweatshirt at the time of his arrest.
A federal judge ruled on April 4 that Abrego Garcia must be returned to the U.S. by April 7. However, the Trump administration appealed the decision, and Chief Justice Roberts temporarily paused the lower court's order on April 7.
Senators demand the return of deported Maryland man
In a five-page letter, 31 U.S. senators challenged the Trump administration's resistance to bringing Abrego Garcia home.
While the Trump administration admitted that Abrego Garcia's deportation was ultimately the result of an "administrative error", the administration said jurisdictional and diplomatic limitations prevent the U.S. from compelling him to be released.
"Your unwillingness to immediately rectify this 'administrative error' is unacceptable. Under multiple Democratic and Republican administrations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE followed the rule of law and worked to quickly return people who were wrongfully deported, in the rare instances where such 'administrative errors' occurred," the senators wrote in the letter. "The Administration's mass deportation agenda does not transcend immigration law or the need for due process."
Senators question ICE's immigration enforcement practices
The senators also requested that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE respond to several questions regarding the legal process surrounding immigration enforcement and Abrego Garcia's case.
According to the letter, the standard process in deportation cases involving someone with protected status, such as Abrego Garcia, is to reopen the case, present evidence as to why the protected status should end, and allow an immigration judge to make a ruling.
The senators asked why DHS and ICE are deviating from what they called "well-established procedures and practices for returning people to the U.S. who were erroneously deported."
Additionally, the senators requested that ICE provide "any evidence" to substantiate the claim that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13.
The letter also urged the administration to identify any other cases where immigrants with protected status were deported "without due process," to take corrective action in those instances, and to commit to a full review of all deportation cases to ensure no similar errors have occurred. They also pressed for a clear plan to protect due process rights for immigrants with legal protections moving forward.
The senators asked the department to respond to their questions by April 22.
The list of senators who signed the letter included Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
