Transferred MS-13 gang member and deported immigrant from notorious El Salvadoran prison

Illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is said to have connections to a violent gang and was deported to El Salvador, was moved from Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a notorious mega prison in the country, just days before U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited to advocate for his release.

After his return to the U.S. on Friday, and again on Sunday, Van Hollen informed the press that Abrego Garcia, aged 29, was no longer in CECOT. This information was initially noted in the government’s daily update, which has now been officially verified by the State Department.

The document reveals that “On April 17, Abrego Garcia informed Sen. Van Hollen that he had been moved from CECOT to the detention center ‘Centro Industrial’ in Santa Ana about eight days earlier. Abrego Garcia mentioned to Sen. Van Hollen that he was accommodated in the administrative building of Centro Industrial, in a room by himself with a bed and furniture, and not in a cell.”

In an X post Sunday, Van Hollen called out President Donald Trump, writing, “When you defy court orders and deny one man his Constitutional rights, you threaten them for ALL.”

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, speaks during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., on April 4. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The HSI report also notes that in October 2019, the Prince Georges County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego Garcia as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang.

Abrego Garcia was also recently revealed to have a record of being a “violent” repeat wife beater, according to court records filed in a Prince George’s County, Md., district court by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez.

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.” 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., holds a news conference Friday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia after his visit to El Salvador to meet with deported Maryland illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Pool)

The Trump administration has continued to maintain it was right to deport Abrego Garcia to CECOT, despite many Democrats suggesting he was wrongly deported, even going as far as to say he was kidnapped by the administration.

Speaking with Fox News last week, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Abrego Garcia is “exactly where he belongs: home in El Salvador.”

“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.”

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.