The Atlantic recently published an article that portrayed a deported MS-13 gang member as a "Maryland dad," who was sent to a prison in El Salvador due to an "administrative error.
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The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, addressed this issue during a press briefing on Tuesday. She clarified that the so-called error was merely "clerical," stating, "The error that you are referring to was a clerical error. It was an administrative error."
According to The Post Millennial, Leavitt emphasized that the individual in question was a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. She stated, "The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal, ambitious MS-13 gang.
That is fact number one. Fact number two, we also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. In fact number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang, which this president has designated as a foreign terrorist organization."
Leavitt further explained that foreign terrorists no longer have legal protections in the United States. She said, "Fact number four is that foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore, and it is within the President's executive authority and power to deport these heinous individuals from American communities. It is a promise he campaigned on. It is a promise he is keeping, and every single person in this room should be grateful for that, considering especially MS-13 is very prevalent and prominent here in the District of Columbia, in Maryland and in Virginia. And the President, the Attorney General, everyone who has been involved in these operations is focused on eradicating these criminals and terrorists from our communities."
The man at the center of this controversy, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite being a father residing in Maryland, was identified as a convicted MS-13 gang member by Vice President JD Vance. In response to the Atlantic's report, Vance stated, My comment is that according to the court document you apparently didnt read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here. He added, My further comment is that its gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize.
When asked about Vance's claim and the supporting evidence, Leavitt responded, "There's a lot of evidence in the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning."
In 2019, Garcia was denied bond after an informant alleged his affiliation with MS-13. He was ordered to be deported after entering the US in 2011. Despite these allegations, a judge granted him an asylum request, as reported by News Nation. However, he was not convicted of any gang-related crimes in the US.
The Trump administration acknowledged in a court filing on Monday that Garcia was deported to El Salvador due to an "administrative error." He was among the gang members deported under the Enemy Aliens Act from the United States to El Salvador, where the US spends $6 million annually to detain them. These deportations have been legally disputed, and US District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that the administration could not carry out deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. Despite this, the administration has continued deportations under different laws.
Garcia's lawyer responded to the deportation by stating, "They claim that the court is powerless to order any relief. If thats true, the immigration laws are meaninglessall of thembecause the government can deport whoever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, and no court can do anything about it once its done."
Garcia and his legal team have denied his affiliation with MS-13, stating in a court filing that the US "government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation."
The Trump administration countered in its legal filing, stating that the "issue was actually litigated and decided in his bond hearing in 2019. IJ Order 23 ('Respondent failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13' and he 'has failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion.')." The filing added, "He appealed that decision to the appropriate administrative review body, the Board of Immigration Appeals, which adopted and affirmed the immigration judges 'danger ruling' notwithstanding Abrego Garcias arguments."
Vance further commented on the issue, stating, "Kyle Cheney, a legal affairs reporter is apparently unable or unwilling to look at the facts here. In 2019, an Immigration Judge (under the first Trump administration) determined that the deported man was, in fact, a member of the MS-13 gang. He also apparently had multiple traffic violations for which he failed to appear in court. A real winner.
Vance continued, "It is telling that the entire American media is going to run a propaganda operation today making you think an innocent father of 3 was apprehended by a gulag. Here are the relevant facts. 1) The man is an illegal immigrant with no right to be in our country. 2) An immigration judge determined he was a member of the MS-13 gang. 3) Because he is not a citizen, he does not get a full jury trial by peers. In other words, whatever due process he was entitled to, he received."
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