Understanding ‘Maryland Man’: The Story of Kilmar Garcia

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a man from El Salvador who illegally entered the United States. He claims to have fled his home country due to gang violence, but he has also been accused of being a member of notorious gang MS-13 and participating in human trafficking. He’s also a married man and father of three who has lived in Maryland since 2011 – almost 15 years – leading those who oppose his deportation to portray him as a “Maryland man.”

Is Garcia a violent criminal and a danger to society who needed to be deported, or was he a loving husband and father of three who was deported wrongfully? Which side you take likely depends on your perspective on the issues at hand and which set of “facts” you believe to be true.

Kilmar Garcia: Maryland Man or Migrant Criminal?

It is not disputed that Mr. Garcia entered the United States illegally in 2011. On the other hand, it is also not disputed that he lived in Maryland for years, married an American citizen and fathered three children – who are, thanks to the location of their birth and their mother’s citizenship status, also US citizens. It is also not in dispute that a court ruled in 2019 that Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador to be locked up in the nation’s notorious prison for terrorists and violent gang members.

What does seem to be in question, however, is the status of his relationship with his wife and kids and whether or not he was ever actually a member of the violent MS-13 gang. The Department of Justice offers evidence that he was, in fact, a member of the gang and that his wife had a restraining order issued against him – not exactly the image of a happy family. The Department of Homeland Security suspected Garcia of participating in human trafficking, as well.

Others, however, say that the evidence is flimsy and that he is a loving husband and father. Garcia was a member of the Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland, more commonly known as CASA de Maryland, and after his deportation on March 15, 2025, CASA began holding rallies and protests, and spoke up on his behalf, demanding his return to the United States.

The origins of CASA are suspect, as well, since the founders were communists, with one admitting publicly that he had taken up arms against the US military in the past.

What Happened, and What’s Happening Now

Whatever the truth of Mr. Garcia’s past and home life, the Trump administration admits that his deportation to El Salvador was an accident – basically a paperwork mix-up. But the government’s argument for why it won’t take action to reverse this is two-fold. First, he was still an illegal alien regardless of whether they meant to send him back or not, and with his criminal background, while the deportation was accidental, it’s a mistake the government is okay with. Second, since he’s a citizen of El Salvador who is now back in El Salvador, the US government can’t actually force El Salvador to send him back.

CASA and others who support Kilmar Garcia and advocate for his return disagree, saying that there is a lot the Trump administration could do to get him released. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, went to El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and advocated both there and here in the states for his release. Van Hollen’s visit sparked about as much controversy as Garcia’s deportation, with fellow Democrats who support Garcia supporting him as well and most Republicans who feel Garcia should stay deported outraged that Van Hollen would try to take matters into his own hands and defy the US government in the process.

Kilmar Garcia, though initially held in Centro de Comfinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the El Salvadorian gang and terrorist prison, has since been transferred out. On April 17, Garcia told Van Hollen that he had been moved to the detention facility “Centro Industrial” in Santa Ana, and that he was in an administrative building in a room of his own with furniture, which he said was not a cell. What the future holds for Mr. Garcia – or, if you prefer, “Maryland Man” – remains to be seen.

1. On March 15, 2025, Kilmar Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged ties to human trafficking and the MS-13 criminal gang, was deported to his home country, El Salvador.
2. Garcia has been labeled an illegal alien and a criminal by those in support of his deportation and is often portrayed as “a Maryland man” by those who oppose it.
3. The conflict between whether Garcia should have been sent back to El Salvador or not has been taken up by politicians, and his future remains unclear.