It’s hard to imagine that we live in a country where an illegal immigrant, accused of human trafficking, linked by law enforcement to MS-13, and once deported to El Salvador’s infamous maximum-security gang prison, could get to be free on U.S. soil, thanks to the kindness of a federal judge.
Sadly, that’s apparently where we are.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant who should never have been here in the first place, is now heading back to Maryland to be with his wife and children as he awaits trial for human trafficking.
"Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free," Abrego Garcia's attorney, Sean Hecker, said in a statement. "He is presently en route to his family in Maryland, after being unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government's vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the administration's continuing assault on the rule of law. He is grateful that his access to American courts has provided meaningful due process."
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, granted him release last month, though that release was delayed 30 days. According to Crenshaw, federal prosecutors and ICE had not sufficiently proven that he’s dangerous enough to be detained. If that doesn’t make your head spin, nothing will. Abrego’s immigration history is as messy as it gets. He entered illegally, won withholding of removal under an asylum loophole, and remained in Maryland with his wife and kids while ICE allowed him to do yearly check-ins.
In 2019, police in Maryland identified him in official documents as affiliated with MS-13, one of the most violent street gangs in the world. Judges later said that the evidence wasn’t conclusive, which is how the Left likes it; it demands airtight proof of gang membership before acting, as though credible law enforcement identification somehow means nothing. The Trump administration, recognizing the danger, labeled him an MS-13 member. Democrats and sympathetic judges later treated that "label" as though it were the real crime.
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In 2022, during a Tennessee traffic stop, police caught Abrego Garcia driving a vehicle with nine passengers. At the time, he escaped charges. But earlier this year, federal prosecutors indicted him on smuggling-related counts. He pleaded not guilty and now calls it “vindictive.” Of course he does. In today’s climate, criminals are the victims and Americans are the afterthought.
When the U.S. deported him, El Salvador sent Abrego to CECOT, a prison for cartel operatives and terrorists, where inmates rarely last long. He complained his life was at risk because rival gang members were intentionally mixed in. What’s ignored is that Abrego never should have been here in the first place. Yet the narrative paints him as a blameless victim of “lawless” Trump-era deportation policy.
If a suspected MS-13 member accused of trafficking who has already been deported once isn’t dangerous, then who is?
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin nailed it when she blasted the system last month: “The facts remain, this MS-13 gang member, human trafficker and illegal alien will never walk America’s streets again.”
The catch, of course, is that ICE could still swoop in and detain him. Options are under discussion: whether to deport him back to El Salvador, Mexico, or even South Sudan. But the fact remains: right this very moment, Abrego Garcia is out.
When criminals are treated like victims, America loses. Illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free despite his violent past. PJ Media pulls back the curtain the left doesn’t want you to see. Join PJ Media VIP with code FIGHT for 60% off and get ad-free reading plus bold truths. Support fearless conservative journalism now.
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