PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, MD – The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran deported to El Salvador in March 2025, has ignited a firestorm.
The Trump administration, standing by its deportation, alleges Abrego Garcia is an active MS-13 gang member with a history of domestic violence.
Despite this, Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Maxwell Frost and Robert Garcia, are fighting to bring him back to U.S. soil, raising concerns about public safety and political priorities.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is stumping this week to push for the return of this violent illegal immigrant, despite the administration’s claim that even if he is returned to the U.S., he will immediately be deported again.
Abrego Garcia’s alleged ties to MS-13, a violent transnational gang, are central to the controversy.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cites police reports and a confidential informant linking him to the gang’s “Westerns” clique. Evidence includes his wearing of a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, items often associated with MS-13, and claims of his involvement with a New York faction, though he never lived there.
While Abrego Garcia’s legal team denies these affiliations, insisting he has no criminal convictions, the administration maintains he poses a significant threat.
More damning is a recently released 2021 police report detailing allegations of domestic violence.
His U.S. citizen wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed a protective order accusing him of physical assault, including punching and scratching.
I told him to give me his card to pay he got angry, start insulting me. I only put a few of gas, once leaving there, he pulled out like crazy.
I started recording because I was scared of the way he was driving and b/c our 1 year old was in the back sit in the recording you can hear him yelling, insulting me, driving extreme fast. On 5/04/2021 @ 1:00 I was watching in my laptop, and he yelled to turn it off.
I told him I wasn’t sleepy, he got angry, got up over and yelled, he threw my laptop in the and the baby started to cry because he was putting pressure on him, my reaction was to push him off of us, and he then punched, scratched me on my left eye, leaving me bleeding.
That same day @ 2:00 pm he came home and to say he was going out with a friend, I told him that I needed to go out to pick up some orders @ BJ’s he got angry started yelling again to the point that he rip my shorts and shirt off and ran to the bathroom, he warned he behind me grabbed me by my arm. I have marks on my left arm as well.
He then left came home @ 12:00 am left MY car parked in the neighborhood and in the morning locked him for the key and said he wasn’t going to give it to me b/c he has things to do.
I order Uber to leave with my kids b/c I scared of him minutes later he called that our car wasn’t there anymore at this point I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiples photos/videos of how violate he can be and all the bruises he has left me. The checks with me.
-restraining order filed by Jennifer Vasquez-Sura, wife of Abrego Garcia.
Though the order was dismissed within a month, and Vasquez Sura now supports his return, the report has fueled accusations that Abrego Garcia is a “wife beater,” as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
Despite his troubling history, Democrats argue that Abrego Garcia’s deportation violated a 2019 court order granting him “withholding of removal” due to gang persecution risks in El Salvador.
Senator Van Hollen visited El Salvador on April 16, 2025, to advocate for him but was denied access. Representatives Frost and Garcia have called for a congressional delegation to visit the Salvadoran mega-prison where he’s held. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has criticized the Trump administration for defying court orders to facilitate his return, though the administration insists federal courts lack jurisdiction over a foreign national.
A Dangerous Precedent?
The push to repatriate Abrego Garcia, despite his alleged MS-13 ties and documented domestic violence accusations, highlights the tension between due process and public safety.
The Trump administration, backed by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who refuses to release him, stands firm, labeling him a “terrorist.”
As Democrats double down, the case risks becoming a lightning rod in the immigration debate, with Abrego Garcia’s criminal history casting a long shadow over their advocacy.