Vice President JD Vance defended the Trump administration on Monday after a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official informed a federal judge that a Salvadoran man unlawfully living in Maryland was mistakenly deported back to his home country.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who an immigration judge deemed likely to be an MS-13 gang member in 2019, was arrested by ICE and sent to El Salvador last month on one of the Trump administration’s deportation flights. While a judge ordered that the Salvadoran be removed from the country in 2019, the order prohibited Abrego Garcia from being sent back to his home country, acknowledging that he would likely face persecution or torture. An “administrative error” placed the suspected MS-13 member on a flight to El Salvador, where the Trump administration has been sending deportees to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Through administrative error, Abrego-Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador. This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13,” ICE official Robert L. Cerna wrote to a federal judge.
The Trump administration’s admission has caused questions and criticisms to swirl as some argue that the federal government is carelessly rounding up suspected illegal immigrants and deporting them without proper legal proceedings.
Asked to respond to Abrego Garcia’s story, Vice President Vance said that “he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.”
“My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize,” Vance added.
My comment is that according to the court document you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.
My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize. https://t.co/cPnloeyXYk
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 1, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security charged Abrego Garcia in 2019 with illegally residing in the United States, and during his proceedings, the immigration judge denied him bond “because ‘the evidence show[ed] that he is a verified member of [Mara Salvatrucha] (‘MS-13’)]’ and therefore posed a danger to the community,” according to ICE’s statement to the court. Abrego Garcia appealed the judge’s decision, but it was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
On October 10, 2019, the immigration judge ordered that Abrego Garcia be removed from the United States but prohibited the federal government from deporting him to El Salvador. The Salvadoran man was then released from ICE custody. After living in the United States for another five-and-a-half years, Abrego Garcia was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations on March 12 “due to his prominent role in MS-13.”
“The operation that led to Abrego-Garcia’s removal to El Salvador was designed to only include individuals with no impediments to removal. Generally, individuals were not placed on the manifest until they were cleared for removal,” ICE stated, adding, “Abrego-Garcia was not on the initial manifest of the Title 8 flight to be removed to El Salvador. Rather, he was an alternate. As others were removed from the flight for various reasons, he moved up the list and was assigned to the flight. The manifest did not indicate that Abrego-Garcia should not be removed.”
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[[{“value”:”
Vice President JD Vance defended the Trump administration on Monday after a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official informed a federal judge that a Salvadoran man unlawfully living in Maryland was mistakenly deported back to his home country.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who an immigration judge deemed likely to be an MS-13 gang member in 2019, was arrested by ICE and sent to El Salvador last month on one of the Trump administration’s deportation flights. While a judge ordered that the Salvadoran be removed from the country in 2019, the order prohibited Abrego Garcia from being sent back to his home country, acknowledging that he would likely face persecution or torture. An “administrative error” placed the suspected MS-13 member on a flight to El Salvador, where the Trump administration has been sending deportees to an infamous Salvadoran prison.
“Through administrative error, Abrego-Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador. This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13,” ICE official Robert L. Cerna wrote to a federal judge.
The Trump administration’s admission has caused questions and criticisms to swirl as some argue that the federal government is carelessly rounding up suspected illegal immigrants and deporting them without proper legal proceedings.
Asked to respond to Abrego Garcia’s story, Vice President Vance said that “he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.”
“My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize,” Vance added.
My comment is that according to the court document you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.
My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize. https://t.co/cPnloeyXYk
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 1, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security charged Abrego Garcia in 2019 with illegally residing in the United States, and during his proceedings, the immigration judge denied him bond “because ‘the evidence show[ed] that he is a verified member of [Mara Salvatrucha] (‘MS-13’)]’ and therefore posed a danger to the community,” according to ICE’s statement to the court. Abrego Garcia appealed the judge’s decision, but it was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
On October 10, 2019, the immigration judge ordered that Abrego Garcia be removed from the United States but prohibited the federal government from deporting him to El Salvador. The Salvadoran man was then released from ICE custody. After living in the United States for another five-and-a-half years, Abrego Garcia was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations on March 12 “due to his prominent role in MS-13.”
“The operation that led to Abrego-Garcia’s removal to El Salvador was designed to only include individuals with no impediments to removal. Generally, individuals were not placed on the manifest until they were cleared for removal,” ICE stated, adding, “Abrego-Garcia was not on the initial manifest of the Title 8 flight to be removed to El Salvador. Rather, he was an alternate. As others were removed from the flight for various reasons, he moved up the list and was assigned to the flight. The manifest did not indicate that Abrego-Garcia should not be removed.”
“}]]
