OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
10:46 AM – Monday, August 25, 2025
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran illegal alien who was deported back to his home country from the U.S. after being deemed a member of MS-13 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was detained once more by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Monday morning, just three days after his release, Garcia was detained by ICE and taken into custody after a scheduled ICE check-in at the Baltimore Field Office.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced the news on X at the start of the week.
“Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation,” Noem wrote.
“President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens any longer.”
Garcia had been deported back to his native country of El Salvador earlier this year, but was flown back to the U.S. in June to be held at Putnam County Jail in Cookeville, Tennessee, while facing human smuggling charges.
The allegations against him stem from 2022, when Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled him over for speeding and drifting out of his lane on I-40. Officers noticed that he was driving eight others in the vehicle, but Abrego Garcia assured the police, while having an expired license, that the men he was driving were all carpooling to work. The officer issued a warning citation for that expired license and was on his way.
“There was no luggage in the vehicle, leading the encountering officer to suspect this was a human trafficking incident. Additionally, all the passengers gave the same home address as the subject’s home address. During the interview, Abrego Garcia pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put the encountering officer off-track by responding to questions with questions,” the DHS stated.
Then, just last week, Abrego Garcia was allowed to return to his residence in Maryland to be with his wife and other family — though he remained under strict home detention.
“While his release brings some relief, we all know that he is far from safe,” his attorney, Simon Sandoval-Mohensberg, said at the time — according to NBC News. “ICE detention or deportation to an unknown third country still threatens to tear his family apart. A measure of justice has been done, but the government must stop pursuing actions that would once again separate his family.”
However, the accused criminal was recently notified by ICE on Friday that he still faces another deportation. U.S. officials offered to send Garcia to Costa Rica, a safer option, if he publicly admitted to transporting the illegal immigrants. However, if Abrego Garcia were to refuse to admit to the human smuggling, he would risk “being sent to Uganda.” He still refused to plead guilty.
Though he held the rank of “Chequeo” in MS-13, according to the New York Post, he also continued to claim to not have any affiliation with the MS-13 gang. A confidential informant, cited in police documents, labeled Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 member with the rank of “chequeo,” also giving him the alias “Chele.”
“They’re holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick,” his lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said outside the ICE field office in downtown Baltimore. “They’re weaponizing the immigration system in a way that’s completely unconstitutional.”
Immigration and left-wing activists, family members, Democrat elected officials, and Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, gathered at a rally in Baltimore before he entered the ICE facility. At the rally, Abrego Garcia made a speech to the crowd in Spanish, which was translated to English by an interpreter:
“To all the families who have been separated, or to all the families who have been threatened with family separation, this administration has hit us hard. But I want to tell you guys something.” Garcia and his interpreter stated. “God is with us and God will never leave us/ God will bring justice to all of the injustice that we are suffering. With our community by our side, and with our family by our side, love will trump. Never lose hope. You will once again see your family, too. Regardless of what happens today, in my ICE check-in, promise me this: Promise me that you will continue to pray, continue to fight, resist and love, not just for me, but for everybody.”
Just before his arrest on Monday, Garcia was seen holding hands and hugging his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who had previously requested a restraining order against him in 2021, citing more than one instance of domestic violence. However, she later dropped the charges.
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