The Atlantic published a deportation sob story about Kilmar Abrego Garcia being sent to that notorious El Salvador prison. The Trump administration admitted an “administrative error” which caused the problem. The Atlantic played up the fact that he was a “Maryland father” who shouldn’t have been deported because he was under temporary protection status. They left out some important information. As they usually do.
The government filed a report with the court admitting their mistake about sending Garcia to El Salvador, so The Atlantic jumped on it hoping to once again give Donald Trump and company a black eye. But they failed to note that the judge who ruled in his case in 2019 did say he could be deported, just to somewhere besides El Salvador. The mistake? He was sent back to El Salvador instead of that other country.
“I just read the court filings to get the full context (which may not satisfy either side): The man is an illegal migrant from El Salvador. In 2019, ICE presented sufficient evidence that he was a member of the MS-13 gang for an immigration judge to deny him bond and order his removal. However, he then filed an asylum claim and obtained a withholding of removal order under the convention against torture. Essentially, he argued that despite his being here illegally and likely being a gang member based on the previous finding, he could be tortured if sent back to El Salvador. Such an order could still allow the government to deport him, but not to his home country, at least not without first contesting the order. He has been using that order since 2019 to avoid deportation. With that context, referring to him just as a “Maryland father” obviously does not tell the full story. And The Atlantic reporter cites the lawyer to downplay the previous finding of MS-13 ties.
