Kilmar Abrego Garcia, left, meets with Sen. Van Hollen, D-Md. (X / @ChrisVanHollen)
Fox News Digital examined two separate photos of Abrego Garcia shared with the media in recent weeks that do not appear to show the MS-13 tattoo.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who struck an agreement with the Trump administration to accept thousands of violent gang members illegally living in the U.S. and house them in a high-security prison in the country, shared a photo of Abrego Garcia after his arrival to El Salvador in March that does not appear to show "MS13" tattooed across his hand.
President Donald Trump's administration has been undergoing an illegal immigration crackdown. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Abrego Garcia was pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper on Dec. 1, 2022 after he spotted the car speeding and not remaining in its lane, according to the Homeland Security Investigations report.
The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis to "perform construction work," Fox Digital previously reported. The report states that the trooper suspected the group was involved with a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle.
MARYLAND GOVERNOR SAYS HE WON'T TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR FOR ABREGO GARCIA
New documents further revealed that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his "boss." The Suburban was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, Fox Digital previously reported.
Gang members are seen in a cell at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, in San Vicente, El Salvador, on April 4, 2025. (Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The deportation has been wrapped up in court proceedings since last month, with a Maryland federal judge ordering the Department of Justice to "take all available steps to facilitate" his return to the U.S., which was a ruling upheld by an appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Trump administration, however, contends that "cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations" with El Salvador to secure the release.
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"The United States does not control the sovereign nation of El Salvador, nor can it compel El Salvador to follow a federal judge’s bidding," Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the Trump administration’s Supreme Court petition earlier this month, the New York Post reported.
Fox News' Stepheny Price, David Spunt and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wh-says-no-dispute-deported-suspected-gang-member-had-ms-13-tattoos-despite-photos-contrary