Deported illegal alien and suspected MS-13 gang member transferred from notorious El Salvadoran mega-prison
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged ties to a violent gang who was deported to El Salvador, had been transferred from the country’s notorious mega prison, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), days before U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., arrived in the country last week to push for his freedom.

Van Hollen told reporters after returning to the U.S. on Friday and again on Sunday that Abrego Garcia, 29, is no longer in CECOT, a claim that was filed in the government’s daily update, obtained by Fox News, and now confirmed in writing by the State Department.

The filing states, “Abrego Garcia told Sen. Van Hollen on April 17 that he had been transferred from CECOT to the detention facility ‘Centro Industrial’ in Santa Ana about eight days prior. Abrego Garcia told Sen. Van Hollen that he had been placed in the administrative building of Centro Industrial, in a room of his own with a bed and furniture, and that he was 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 speaking

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.

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. 

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