The Department of Justice has released a document in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 and recently included an allegation, without providing evidence, that the 29-year-old was also involved in human trafficking. But in court documents examined by News4, the only allegation Abrego Garcia was in a gang came from one Prince George’s County police officer who was later fired for misconduct in office.
The released document is the final order from an immigration judge issued Oct. 10, 2019, giving Abrego Garcia the legal status to remain in the United States.
On page two at the bottom, it says, “Exhibit 4 is a Prince George’s County Police Department Gang field interview sheet. It was issued for the limited purpose of showing that the respondent was labeled a gang member by law enforcement.”
The attorney who represented Abrego Garcia in that proceeding said it was written by officer Ivan Mendez, who claimed a confidential source came forward to say Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13.
In fact, in a document denying Abrego Garcia bail the first time on April 29, 2019, a different immigration judge wrote, “the determination that the respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record, namely information contained in the gang field interview sheet.”
That “sheet” was released Wednesday by the Department of Justice. It says when officers stopped Abrego Garcia, he was with two known members of MS-13 and a third man suspected of being in the gang.
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The documents say Abrego Garcia was wearing “a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations. … Wearing the Chicago Bulls hat represents they are a member in good standing with the MS-13. Officers contacted a past proven and reliable source of information, who advised Kilmar Armando ABREGO-GARCIA is an active member of MS-13 with the Western Clique.”
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys say the Western Clique is in New York, where the 29-year-old has never lived.
When Prince George’s County police stopped Abrego Garcia back on March 28, 2019, he was standing in a parking lot with three other men. He was looking for work, and according to the attorney who represented him back then, the officer who stopped him was suspended four days later and accused of misconduct in office.
In a statement to News4, Lucia Curiel, the attorney who represented Abrego Garcia at his immigration hearings, said, “At Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s immigration court hearing, the ICE attorney stated to the judge that the only ‘intel’ they had on him was in fact that ‘intel’ from the [Prince George’s County] gang unit officer. They had nothing else and the PG officer responsible for the allegations was later fired.”
News4 attempted on Wednesday to speak with Mendez, who was fired from the force in December 2022 after online court records show he pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in office — a charge that had nothing to do with the arrest of Abrego Garcia. Mendez was accused of providing confidential information to a sex worker, but there was no answer at his Maryland home, and he did not return a call or respond to text messages.
So far, the Trump administration has not provided any documented evidence that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13. He has repeatedly denied being a member of a gang and has no criminal record in the U.S. or El Salvador.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an El Salvadoran immigrant at the center of a legal battle that could reshape American immigration policy. Here’s what you need to know.
Hours later, the Department of Homeland Security posted on its X account images of a temporary protective order against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in May of 2021.
In Maryland, such documents are generally not publicly available, but the court posted them after reporters inquired.
A written statement from his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, accused him of domestic violence: beating, scratching and punching her in anger on multiple occasions.
Court documents note the restraining order expired a month later because Vasquez Sura failed to appear at the proceeding.
NBC News received a statement Wednesday night from Kilmar Vasquez Sura regarding the temporary protective order she filed against him four years ago. She said, in part, “After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar — by seeking a civil protective order — in case things escalated. Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through this situation privately as a family — including by going to counseling. Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. That is not a justification for ICE’s action — of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from deportation.”
The documents came as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador Wednesday, hoping to get an update on Abrego Garcia’s welfare, and possibly meet with him.
The request was denied.
“If you listen to President Trump and the Trump administration, you would think that the U.S. courts have found that Mr. Abrego Garcia is part of MS-13, but in fact, they have not found that,” Van Hollen told reporters in El Salvador.
Van Hollen said other members of Congress plan to visit the prison.
The Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, is a mega-prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador.
