As Democrats and media outlets clamor for the return of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to a maximum-security prison in his home country, publicly available domestic violence court records cast doubt on the media narrative about his innocence. (Alex Peña/Getty Images; Fox News)
Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported to a controversial mega prison, the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, in March along with several hundred other alleged gang members living in the U.S. Though he was deported for being an alleged MS-13 gang member, his attorneys maintain he was living in the U.S. legally and does not have any gang ties.
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision ordering the Trump administration to arrange Abrego Garcia’s return. The court required the "government to 'facilitate' Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador."
The Trump administration agreed to clear any administrative obstacles keeping Abrego Garcia from returning to the U.S., but Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that returning him is "up to El Salvador. If they want to return him. That's not up to us."
This has caused outrage among Democrats, many of whom have begun referring to him as a "Maryland man" who was wrongly deported. Some have even suggested he was kidnapped by the Trump administration.
LIBERAL SENATOR SAYS HE IS FLYING TO VISIT DEPORTED MIGRANT IN PRISON, OTHER DEMS PLANNING TRIPS
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, a man identified by Jennifer Vasquez Sura as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is led by force by guards through the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland via AP)
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security doubled down, saying Abrego Garcia has a "history of violence and was not the upstanding ‘Maryland Man’ the media has portrayed him as."
DHS shared court filings in which Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he "punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt."
And a 2019 DHS interview document shared with Fox News shows Abrego Garcia admitted to being in the U.S. illegally and claimed to have "walked across the desert for many days entering illegally into the United States near McAllen, Texas on or about March 25, 2012."
As a result, Abrego Garcia was marked as eligible for deportation in 2019.
A federal immigration court in Baltimore further determined Abrego Garcia was not eligible for release because he "failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13."
BONDI DEFIANT, SAYS ABREGO GARCIA WILL STAY IN EL SALVADOR 'END OF THE STORY'
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tours the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted some more details about his arrest, saying, in addition to being apprehended with other MS-13 members, he was found with "rolls of cash and drugs" and "wearing what is effectively MS-13’s uniform."
Speaking with Fox News on Monday, McLaughlin said Abrego Garcia is "exactly where he belongs, home in El Salvador."
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"The media would love for you to believe that this is some media darling, that he is just some Maryland father, but Osama bin Laden was also a father, and yet he wasn’t a good guy, and they are actually both terrorists," she added. "He should be in this El Salvador prison, prison for terrorists, and I hope he will remain there."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/police-records-destroy-media-narrative-about-wrongly-deported-maryland-migrant