In a new court filing, the Trump administration confirmed that deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia was moved into the Centro Industrial Penitentiary facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador, after first being sent to the country’s notorious CECOT prison.
The new filing from the State Department says, “The Salvadoran government responded on April 21 that Mr. Abrego García is being held at the Centro Industrial penitentiary facility in Santa Ana, ‘in good conditions and in an excellent state of health.'”
In this handout provided by Sen. Van Hollen’s Office, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) meets with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (L) at an undisclosed location on April 17, 2025 in San Salvador, El Salvador…. In this handout provided by Sen. Van Hollen’s Office, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) meets with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (L) at an undisclosed location on April 17, 2025 in San Salvador, El Salvador. AFP/Getty Images
Context
Abrego Garcia was arrested in 2019 and accused of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia denied being a member of the gang but two judges, in separate rulings, concluded that he was an MS-13 member, based on confidential information provided to the court. Nonetheless he was shielded from deportation to his homeland because he said that he would be targeted by MS-13’s gangland rivals.
Abrego Garcia was deported anyway to El Salvador after being arrested last month in what the Trump administration lawyers said was an “administrative error.” His family denies any ties to gangs and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the United States, although his wife accused him of domestic violence and obtained a restraining order against him. She now says they have been reconciled.
What to Know
Another court filing on Sunday, also by the State Department, said that Abrego Garcia’s has his own room with a bed and furniture, rather than a prison cell. Abrego Garcia was reportedly moved to the facility eight days before Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen visited him in El Salvador last week.
Federal Judge Paula Xinis has directed the Trump administration to submit daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s condition and whereabouts.
Upon his return to Washington on Friday, Van Hollen said that Abrego Garcia appeared “traumatized” by his experience at the country’s infamous CECOT prison and had since been relocated.
“He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell, but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways,” Van Hollen said.
What People Are Saying
Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, who was murdered in 2023 by an undocumented El Salvadoran migrant, told Newsweek on Sunday: “Why would a lawmaker [Van Hollen], one who helps write the laws he expects his constituents to abide by here in Maryland, advocate for one who has been proven over and over again to have violated those laws?”
Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, one of four House Democrats now in El Salvador, told reporters Monday, “Part of what the Trump administration does is they do so much that they try to make sure people forget — forget about them breaking the law, forget about them completely ignoring the Supreme Court. We’re not going to be the last members of Congress and senators that are here to make sure that he’s released and that our country is following our laws.”
What Happens Next?
Despite a Supreme Court ruling directing the Trump administration to assist in facilitating Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return, the administration has claimed it lacks the authority to bring him back — a stance now under scrutiny by federal courts as potentially defying a judicial order.
Whether he is ultimately returned to the U.S. remains to be seen, but even if he is, it is likely that he’d ultimately be deported to a third country.
Update: 4/21/25, 7:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and remarks.
