Things continue to get weirder in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man the administration of President Donald Trump has admitted to erroneously deporting to El Salvador. In a Friday Truth Social post, the president claimed that Garcia has gang tattoos on his fingers.
“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person.’ They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc.” said Trump. “I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job.”
There’s a lot going on in that statement, and a lot going on in this case. Let’s start at our beginning and make our way to the tattoos.
According to court documents, Garcia was removed from the U.S. to El Salvador on March 15 even though he was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal there due to an “administrative error.” However, the federal government also claimed that “Garcia has been found to be a member of the gang MS–13, a designated foreign terrorist organization,” and therefore declined to bring him back to the U.S. Garcia argued that he is not a member of the gang.
Following his removal to El Salvador, judges have ruled against the Trump administration’s handling of the case and even ordered him to bring Garcia back. An expert told Audacy this week that a judge handling the case is even considering contempt of court charges for the administration. Other critics have slammed the administration for allegedly flouting due process.
Meanwhile, the administration has continued to push out claims that Garcia is a member of MS-13. Also known as Mara Salvatrucha 13, it is a notoriously violent gang first established by Salvadorian immigrants in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security said in a Friday press release that documents “reveal that law enforcement confirmed Abrego Garcia to be a Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member.”
However, the law enforcement accounts regarding Garcia’s status as a gang member are conflicting, CNN reported. Altogether, reports about three separate law enforcement incidents have come out since Garcia’s removal: a 2019 arrest that did not lead to charges or a conviction, a 2021 protective order and a 2022 traffic stop.
During the 2019 incident, Garcia and other men in a Home Depot parking lot were approached by a Hyattsville City Police detective, according to a “gang field interview sheet” from the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland.
“Garcia, according to the documents, 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,’ both of which law enforcement said were also ‘indicative’ of gang culture,” said CNN. “An unnamed informant told police that Abrego Garcia ‘is an active member of MS-13 with the Westerns clique.’”
Per The Independent, MS-13’s “Westerns” clique operates out of New York, where Garcia has never lived.
BBC Verify also reached out to Steven Dudley, a journalist and author who has spent years studying the MS-13 gang. Regarding claims that Garcia held a “chequeo” rank in the Westerns, Dudley explained that “chequeo” is not a rank and instead refers to recruits who have not been initiated.
Dudley said that the Chicago Bulls logo with the horns has been a stand-in of for the MS-13’s “devil horns symbol” at some point. He also noted that the Bulls are a popular basketball team and many people wear the team’s merchandise.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Garcia’s wife, married him in 2019 while he was detained over immigration matters. He attended immigration hearings in August and September of that year, where it was revealed that his family sent him to the U.S. due to threats against him by gang members. A judge granted Garcia withholding approval, meaning he couldn’t be removed to El Salvador over fear of persecution.
That was during Trump’s first term in office, and his previous administration declined to appeal the decision.
In 2021, Garcia’s wife – with whom he shares three children – filed a civil protective order, alleging violent behavior. However, she said in a statement that they worked through their problems and that she does not believe the order should prevent him from coming home.
Then, in late 2022, Garcia was also pulled over in Tennessee for speeding while he had multiple other people in the car. Law enforcement decided not to detain him.
This week, Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen met with Garcia in El Salvador and called for his release.
“Following his abduction and unlawful deportation, U.S. federal courts have ordered the safe return of my constituent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States,” he said. “It should be a priority of the U.S. government to secure his safe release, which is why tomorrow I am traveling to El Salvador. My hope is to visit Kilmar and check on his wellbeing and to hold constructive conversations with government officials around his release. We must urgently continue working to return Kilmar safely home to Maryland.”
Now, for the tattoos. In the image Trump shared Friday, a hand with knuckle tattoos of a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull are shown. According to Newsweek, it was not able to verify claims that the symbols stand for M, S, 1 and 3. Both Newsweek and The Independent noted that critics have also alleged that images are fake.
“Hey Old Man, have someone teach you about Photoshop,” said Minnesota politician Linda Higgins in an X post. “This is an excellent example of altering a photo, in this case to make your illegal actions look good. But instead you look foolish.”
Vice President JD Vance appeared to refer to the case in a Friday X post in which he wrote: “Call me crazy but if you got two hearings and a valid deportation order then you shouldn’t be in the United States.” It was criticized in this piece from The New Republic.
J. Harvie Wilkinson, the 4th Circuit appeals court judge who shot down efforts to avoid bringing Garcia back to the U.S., said this about the case: “The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13. Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process.”