How a Chicago Bulls hat led to a Maryland dad being mistakenly shipped to an El Salvador prison
Police believed Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang for two reasons: He was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and an unnamed informant had told them so.
Police believed Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang for two reasons: He was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, and an unnamed informant had told them so.
The two pieces of evidence were not enough to keep Abrego Garcia in federal immigration custody in 2019, when authorities in Maryland arrested him, according to a court filing last month.
Nearly six years later, they appear to be the basis for shipping him to a foreign megaprison with no legal recourse.
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old father of three and protected legal resident who has lived in Maryland since 2011 and is originally from El Salvador, was deported to a high-security jail in El Salvador on March 15. The Trump administration admitted last week that his deportation was an “administrative error” due to his protected status, but refused to commit to bringing him home.
The administration challenged a judge's Friday ruling that the government bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. It argued that Garcia was a member of MS-13, citing the accusation from 2019, and said he posed a threat to national security.
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