Latest news with #KilmarÁbregoGarcía
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ábrego García will be deported again if released from jail before trial, says DoJ attorney
The US government would initiate deportation proceedings against Kilmar Ábrego García if he's released from jail before he stands trial on human smuggling charges in Tennessee, a justice department attorney told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday. The disclosure by US lawyer Jonathan Guynn contradicts statements by spokespeople for the justice department and the White House, who said last month that Ábrego García would stand trial and possibly spend time in an American prison before the government moves to deport him. Guynn made the revelation during a federal court hearing in Maryland, where Ábrego García's wife, a US citizen, is suing the Trump administration over his mistaken deportation in March and trying to prevent him from being expelled again. Guynn said US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would detain Ábrego García once he's released from jail and send him to a 'third country' that isn't his native El Salvador. However, Guynn said he didn't know which country that would be. Paula Xinis, a US district judge, said trying to determine what will happen to Ábrego García has been 'like trying to nail Jello to a wall'. She scheduled a hearing for Thursday for US officials to explain possible next steps if Ábrego García is released. Ábrego García's case became a flashpoint over Donald Trump's immigration policies when he was deported in March to a notorious mega prison in his native El Salvador. The Trump administration claimed he was in the MS-13 gang, although Ábrego García was never charged with a crime and has repeatedly denied the allegation. In recent court filings, Ábrego García's lawyers wrote that he had been tortured while being held at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador. He and 20 other men 'were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM' according to the filing, and Ábrego García was beaten and threatened. When the Trump administration deported Ábrego García, it violated a US immigration judge's order in 2019 that shielded him from being sent to his native country. The judge had determined that Ábrego García likely faced persecution by local gangs that had terrorized him and his family and prompted him to flee to the US. For months, the Trump administration said that it had no ability to bring back Ábrego García or any of the more than 200 men that the government had sent to Cecot. 'DHS does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation,' the Department of Homeland Security's general counsel said in one court filing. However, in a new filing Monday, officials from El Salvador told the United Nations 'the jurisdiction and legal responsibility' for the men that the US deported to Cecot – most of whom were Venezuelan nationals with no ties to El Salvador, and no criminal records – lies 'exclusively with' the US. Facing increasing pressure and a supreme court order, the Trump administration returned Ábrego García to the US last month to face federal human smuggling charges. The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Ábrego García was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage. Ábrego García has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers told a judge that some government witnesses cooperated to get favors regarding their immigration status or criminal charges they were facing. They've also accused the Trump administration of bringing Ábrego García back 'to convict him in the court of public opinion' with the intention of deporting him before he can defend himself at trial. A federal judge in Nashville was preparing to release Ábrego García, determining he's not a flight risk or a danger. But she agreed to keep Ábrego García behind bars at the request of his own attorneys, who raised concerns the US would try to immediately deport him. In court documents, Ábrego García's lawyers cited 'contradictory statements' by the Trump administration. For example, Guynn told Xinis on 26 June that Ice planned to deport Ábrego García, though he didn't say when. Later that day, justice department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told the Associated Press that it intends to try Ábrego García on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, posted on X that day that Ábrego García 'will face the full force of the American justice system – including serving time in American prison for the crimes he's committed'. Ábrego García's attorneys asked Xinis to order the government to take him to Maryland upon his release from jail, an arrangement that would prevent his deportation before trial. Ábrego García lived in Maryland for more than a decade, working in construction and raising a family. Xinis is still considering that request. Guynn told the judge on Monday that she doesn't have the jurisdiction to decide where Ábrego García would be detained. Xinis responded by asking why she couldn't order an 'interim step' to ensure that Ábrego García isn't 'spirited away again'. Andrew Rossman, an attorney for Ábrego García, said he should be given notice and an opportunity to challenge his removal in court. 'That's the baseline of what we're asking for,' he added. Meanwhile, Xinis denied the Trump administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit over Ábrego García's mistaken deportation. The government had argued the litigation was moot because it returned him to the US. Xinis said 'the controversy' isn't over simply because he's back. Maanvi Singh contributed reporting
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Yahoo
Kilmar Ábrego García was tortured in Salvadorian prison, court filing alleges
Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and detained in one of that country's most notorious prisons, was physically and psychologically tortured during the three months he spent in Salvadorian custody, according to new court documents filed Wednesday. While being held at the so-called Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) in El Salvador, Ábrego García and 20 other men 'were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM', according to the court papers filed by his lawyers in the federal district court in Maryland. Guards struck anyone who fell from exhaustion while kneeling, and during that time, 'Ábrego García was denied bathroom access and soiled himself', according to the filing. Detainees were held in an overcrowded cell with no windows, and bright lights on 24 hours a day. They were confined to metal bunk beds with no mattresses. Ábrego García's testimony is one of the first detailed insights the world has into the conditions inside Cecot, a megaprison that human rights groups say is designed to disappear people. His lawyers say he lost 31 pounds during his first two weeks of confinement. Later, they write, he and four others were transferred to a different part of the prison 'where they were photographed with mattresses and better food–photos that appeared to be staged to document improved conditions'. The filings also note that officials within the prison acknowledged that Ábrego García was not a gang member, and that his tattoos did not indicate a gang affiliation. 'Prison officials explicitly acknowledged that plaintiff Ábrego García's tattoos were not gang-related, telling him 'your tattoos are fine,'' per the filing, and they kept him in a cell separate from those accused of gang membership. The prison officials, however, threatened to move Ábrego García into a cell with gang members whom officials said 'would 'tear' him apart'. Related: Cooperating witness against Kilmar Ábrego García to be spared deportation Ábrego García is currently in federal custody in Nashville. The Trump administration brought him back from El Salvador after initially claiming it was powerless to do so. The US justice department wants him to stand trial on human-smuggling charges. The administration has also accused him of being a member of the street gang MS-13, and Donald Trump has claimed that Ábrego García's tattoos indicate that he belonged to the gang. Ábrego García has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify the administration's mistake in deporting him after the fact. On Sunday , a Tennessee judge ordered his release while his criminal case plays out, but prosecutors said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) would take Ábrego García into custody if that were to happen and he would be deported before he was given the chance to stand trial. A justice department lawyer, Jonathan Guynn, also told a federal judge in Maryland that the administration would deport Ábrego García not to El Salvador but to another, third country – contradicting statements from attorney general Pam Bondi that he would be sent to El Salvador. Amid the confusion, Ábrego García's lawyers requested that their client remain in criminal custody, fearing that if he were released, he would be deported. Upcoming hearings in both Maryland and Tennessee will help decide whether Ábrego García will be able to remain in the US and be released from jail.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
El Salvador's president denies that Kilmar Ábrego García was abused in notorious prison
The president of El Salvador has denied claims that Kilmar Ábrego García was subjected to beatings and deprivation while he was held in the country before being returned to the US to face human-smuggling charges. Nayib Bukele said in a social media post that Ábrego García, the Salvadorian national who was wrongly extradited from the US to El Salvador in March before being returned in June, 'wasn't tortured, nor did he lose weight'. Bukele showed pictures and video of Ábrego García in a detention cell, adding: 'If he'd been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture?' Ábrego García's lawyers said last week that he had suffered 'severe beatings', sleep deprivation, malnutrition and other forms of torture while he was held in El Salvador's notorious anti-terrorism prison, Cecot. Ábrego García said detainees at Cecot 'were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day and minimal access to sanitation'. His lawyers say he lost 31 pounds during his first two weeks of confinement. They said that, at one point, Ábrego García and four other inmates were transferred to a different part of the prison, 'where they were photographed with mattresses and better food – photos that appeared to be staged to document improved conditions'. Bukele made no reference to whether the photos he showed to claim Ábrego García wasn't mistreated were taken in a nicer part of the prison. Bukele recently struck a deal under which the US will pay about $6m for El Salvador to imprison members of what the US administration claims are members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, two gangs, for a year. According to Maryland senator Chris van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to meet with Ábrego García while he was detained there, the Trump administration intends to provide up to $15m to El Salvador for the controversial detention service. Bukele's remarks came as the Tennessee judge in Ábrego García's human-smuggling complaint ordered both sides to stop making public statements, after Ábrego García's legal team accused the government of attempting to smear him without evidence as a 'monster', 'terrorist' and 'barbarian'. Lawyers for Ábrego García argued in a court filing that the government had violated a local rule barring comments that could be prejudicial to a fair trial. 'For months, the government has made extensive and inflammatory extrajudicial comments about Mr Ábrego that are likely to prejudice his right to a fair trial,' Ábrego García's lawyers said in a filing. 'These comments continued unabated – if anything they ramped up – since his indictment in this district, making clear the government's intent to engage in a 'trial by newspaper'.' The US district judge Waverly Crenshaw issued the gag order in a two-sentence ruling. Ábrego García's legal team has accused the government of trying to convict him in the court of public opinion since it acknowledged that it had mistakenly sent him to a prison in El Salvador despite a court order barring the move. 'As Mr Ábrego's plight captured national attention, officials occupying the highest positions of the United States government baselessly labeled him a 'gangbanger', 'monster', 'illegal predator', 'illegal alien terrorist', 'wife beater', 'barbarian' and 'human trafficker,'' the filing said. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion The attorneys singled out the vice-president, JD Vance, who they said had lied when he called Ábrego García a 'convicted MS-13 gang member'. They also said that Trump administration officials had made 20 more public statements about their client when he was arraigned, including in remarks by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche. They also said the attorney general, Pam Bondi, accused their client of crimes he hadn't been accused of, including links to a murder case. In sum, the statements had asserted Ábrego García's guilt 'without regard to the judicial process or the presumption of innocence', the filing said. According to the documents filed on Wednesday, officials within the prison acknowledged that Ábrego García was not a gang member, and that his tattoos did not indicate a gang affiliation. 'Prison officials explicitly acknowledged that plaintiff Ábrego García's tattoos were not gang-related, telling him 'your tattoos are fine',' according to the filing, and they kept him in a cell separate from those accused of gang membership. The prison officials, however, threatened to move Ábrego García into a cell with gang members whom officials said 'would 'tear' him apart'. Separately, US prosecutors have agreed with a request by Ábrego García's lawyers to delay his release from Tennessee jail over fears that the Trump administration could move to deport the Salvadorian national a second time. In a filing on Friday, lawyers for Ábrego García asked the judge overseeing a federal complaint that he was involved in human smuggling to delay his release because of 'contradictory statements' by the Trump's administration over whether he'll be deported upon release. The justice department has said it plans to try the Maryland construction worker on the smuggling charges, but also that it plans to deport him but has not said when.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
El Salvador's president denies that Kilmar Ábrego García was abused in notorious prison
The president of El Salvador has denied claims that Kilmar Ábrego García was subjected to beatings and deprivation while he was held in the country before being returned to the US to face human-smuggling charges. Nayib Bukele said in a social media post that Ábrego García, the Salvadorian national who was wrongly extradited from the US to El Salvador in March before being returned in June, 'wasn't tortured, nor did he lose weight'. Bukele showed pictures and video of Ábrego García in a detention cell, adding: 'If he'd been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture?' Ábrego García's lawyers said last week that he had suffered 'severe beatings', sleep deprivation, malnutrition and other forms of torture while he was held in El Salvador's notorious anti-terrorism prison, Cecot. Ábrego García said detainees at Cecot 'were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day and minimal access to sanitation'. His lawyers say he lost 31 pounds during his first two weeks of confinement. They said that, at one point, Ábrego García and four other inmates were transferred to a different part of the prison, 'where they were photographed with mattresses and better food – photos that appeared to be staged to document improved conditions'. Bukele made no reference to whether the photos he showed to claim Ábrego García wasn't mistreated were taken in a nicer part of the prison. Bukele recently struck a deal under which the US will pay about $6m for El Salvador to imprison members of what the US administration claims are members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, two gangs, for a year. According to Maryland senator Chris van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to meet with Ábrego García while he was detained there, the Trump administration intends to provide up to $15m to El Salvador for the controversial detention service. Bukele's remarks came as the Tennessee judge in Ábrego García's human-smuggling complaint ordered both sides to stop making public statements, after Ábrego García's legal team accused the government of attempting to smear him without evidence as a 'monster', 'terrorist' and 'barbarian'. Lawyers for Ábrego García argued in a court filing that the government had violated a local rule barring comments that could be prejudicial to a fair trial. 'For months, the government has made extensive and inflammatory extrajudicial comments about Mr Ábrego that are likely to prejudice his right to a fair trial,' Ábrego García's lawyers said in a filing. 'These comments continued unabated – if anything they ramped up – since his indictment in this district, making clear the government's intent to engage in a 'trial by newspaper'.' The US district judge Waverly Crenshaw issued the gag order in a two-sentence ruling. Ábrego García's legal team has accused the government of trying to convict him in the court of public opinion since it acknowledged that it had mistakenly sent him to a prison in El Salvador despite a court order barring the move. 'As Mr Ábrego's plight captured national attention, officials occupying the highest positions of the United States government baselessly labeled him a 'gangbanger', 'monster', 'illegal predator', 'illegal alien terrorist', 'wife beater', 'barbarian' and 'human trafficker,'' the filing said. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion The attorneys singled out the vice-president, JD Vance, who they said had lied when he called Ábrego García a 'convicted MS-13 gang member'. They also said that Trump administration officials had made 20 more public statements about their client when he was arraigned, including in remarks by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche. They also said the attorney general, Pam Bondi, accused their client of crimes he hadn't been accused of, including links to a murder case. In sum, the statements had asserted Ábrego García's guilt 'without regard to the judicial process or the presumption of innocence', the filing said. According to the documents filed on Wednesday, officials within the prison acknowledged that Ábrego García was not a gang member, and that his tattoos did not indicate a gang affiliation. 'Prison officials explicitly acknowledged that plaintiff Ábrego García's tattoos were not gang-related, telling him 'your tattoos are fine',' according to the filing, and they kept him in a cell separate from those accused of gang membership. The prison officials, however, threatened to move Ábrego García into a cell with gang members whom officials said 'would 'tear' him apart'. Separately, US prosecutors have agreed with a request by Ábrego García's lawyers to delay his release from Tennessee jail over fears that the Trump administration could move to deport the Salvadorian national a second time. In a filing on Friday, lawyers for Ábrego García asked the judge overseeing a federal complaint that he was involved in human smuggling to delay his release because of 'contradictory statements' by the Trump's administration over whether he'll be deported upon release. The justice department has said it plans to try the Maryland construction worker on the smuggling charges, but also that it plans to deport him but has not said when.
Roya News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Kilmar Ábrego García claims psychological, physical torture in Salvadoran prison
Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned in one of the country's most infamous detention centers, is alleging severe abuse and mistreatment during his time behind bars, according to newly filed court documents. Ábrego García, 29, was deported in March despite a prior court ruling granting him protection from removal due to potential threats from gangs in his native country. Almost immediately upon arrival, he was taken to the CECOT prison, a high-security facility known for its harsh conditions, where his attorneys now say he was subjected to 'severe beatings' and 'torture' at the hands of guards. The claims are part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Ábrego García's wife against the Trump administration, which oversaw his deportation. Although US officials had previously labeled him an MS-13 gang member, an allegation his legal team and relatives vehemently deny, he was extradited back to the United States in June to face unrelated human trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty. According to the newly filed complaint, Ábrego García and 20 other men deported from the US were held in inhumane conditions at CECOT. The document describes windowless, overcrowded cells, constant fluorescent lighting, and no mattresses, only metal bunks. Sanitation access was limited, and detainees were allegedly forced to kneel overnight for hours, with guards beating anyone who collapsed from fatigue. Ábrego García claims guards also threatened to throw him into a cell with gang members who would 'tear' him apart. Within two weeks, he had reportedly lost 30 pounds due to the harsh conditions. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, who has boasted of reforming the country's prison system, has insisted his facilities are 'clean, orderly, free from abuses, unsanitary conditions, beatings, or murders.' But international watchdogs and rights groups have raised concerns about the country's mass incarceration policies and detention practices. President Bukele had previously voiced support for President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agenda during a visit to the White House earlier this year. US officials later acknowledged that Ábrego García's deportation had been an error. A federal judge in Maryland ordered the government to take steps to bring him back, but initial White House resistance delayed the process. Back in the US, Ábrego García is being held in Tennessee, where a federal judge recently ruled he is eligible for release. However, his legal team has opted to keep him in custody for now, fearing he could be deported again if released. 'This is what American justice looks like,' said Attorney General Pam Bondi following his return, a statement that drew sharp criticism from human rights advocates, who argue Ábrego García's experience is a clear example of systemic failure. His lawyers have described the trafficking accusations against him as 'preposterous,' and continue to pursue legal accountability for what they call an unlawful and dangerous deportation. Ábrego García first entered the US in 2011 and was granted protection from deportation by an immigration judge in 2019. His case has since become a flashpoint in the debate over immigration policy, deportation procedures, and detainee rights under both current and former administrations.
