Man Wrongly Deported by US Is Safeguarded in El Salvador Prison, Officials Say

April 13, 2025 TruthUSA

A representative from the State Department stated that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is ‘held according to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.’

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man the U.S. government has recognized as mistakenly deported, is currently alive and imprisoned in El Salvador, according to a recent court filing by a U.S. State Department official.

“Based on official reports from our Embassy in San Salvador, it is my understanding that Abrego Garcia is presently detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador,” stated Michael Kozak, the official, in a sworn declaration to a federal judge in Washington. “He is secure and alive in that facility. His detention is a result of the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador.”

Kozak’s statement marks the first update since the federal judge overseeing Abrego Garcia’s case ordered on April 11 that officials must provide daily updates starting Saturday on the measures being taken to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.

Abrego Garcia, originally from El Salvador, was living in the United States illegally. In March, he was apprehended and deported back to El Salvador due to what authorities labeled his “prominent role” in the MS-13 gang.

Although an immigration judge had previously concluded there was substantial evidence linking him to MS-13, another judge had granted a withholding of removal, which prevented his deportation to El Salvador due to concerns for his safety there.

The U.S. government acknowledged that the deportation to El Salvador resulted from an administrative error.

On April 10, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the government must “facilitate” Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and ensure that his case “is processed as it would have been had he not been wrongfully deported to El Salvador.”

In his two-page declaration, Kozak did not disclose any additional details regarding Garcia, other than confirming his location, his safety, and the legal basis for his detention as determined by El Salvador’s authority.

Kozak indicated that his information about Abrego Garcia was obtained “from other State Department employees.”

No further documents were submitted to the court by the U.S. government.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that, “if the Supreme Court ordered someone to be brought back, I would comply,” although he admitted he was not fully briefed on the particulars of Abrego Garcia’s situation.

On Saturday, Trump posted on the Truth Social platform that “President Bukele has graciously taken into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, specifically, the United States.”

He continued: “These barbarians are now under the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future rests in the hands of President Bukele and his Government. They will no longer pose a threat to our Citizens!”

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele arrived in the United States on Saturday and is scheduled to meet with Trump on Monday.

On April 12, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys informed U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who oversees his case, that she should instruct the government to take “all necessary steps to release and return Abrego Garcia to Maryland,” where he lived at the time of his arrest.

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