Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation spotlights Trump immigration policies

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador made him a symbol of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies, kisses his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, as appears for a check-in at the ICE Baltimore field office three days after his release from criminal custody in Tennessee, in Baltimore, Maryland, on Aug. 25, 2025.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Aug. 22, 2025.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks after being released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Aug. 22, 2025.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, speaks to a gathering of supporters at First Lutheran Church before her husband’s arraignment and detention hearing Friday, June 13, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn.

Supporters for Kilmar Abrego Garcia shout as they protest during his arraignment and detention hearing at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building Friday, June 13, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn.

An exterior view of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building, housing the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador by President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 6, 2025.

A Homeland Security vehicle stands in front of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building, housing the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador by President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 6, 2025.

People remain outside the Santa Ana Penitentiary Agricultural Industrial Complex, where Kilmar Abrego Garci­a was reportedly imprisoned in Santa Ana, El Salvador, on June 6, 2025. The Salvadoran migrant at the heart of a row over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies has been returned to the United States and arrested on human smuggling charges, officials said on June 6, 2025. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador on June 6 but was immediately arrested and faces charges of trafficking undocumented migrants into the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Aerial view of the Santa Ana Penitentiary Agricultural Industrial Complex, where Kilmar Abrego Garci­a was reportedly imprisoned in Santa Ana, El Salvador, on June 6, 2025. The Salvadoran migrant at the heart of a row over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies has been returned to the United States and arrested on human smuggling charges, officials said on June 6. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador on June 6 but was immediately arrested and faces charges of trafficking undocumented migrants into the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, leaves U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on May 16, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Protesters rallied outside the court during a hearing for Maryland resident from El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is detained in a notoriously violent maximum-security prison in El Salvador after being deported last month.

Ama Frimpong, legal director for the immigrant rights nonprofit CASA, gives a statement to members of the media during a break in a hearing in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was deported without due process by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador, outside U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on May 16, 2025.

Nadine Seiler of Waldorf, Maryland, holds a sign that reads "What would Jesus Do? Free Kilmar" and a shirt that reads "Due Process Now" as she joins a group of protesters singing songs outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on May 16, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Protesters rallied outside the court during a hearing for a Maryland resident from El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is detained in a notoriously violent maximum-security prison in El Salvador after being deported last month.

Nadine Seiler of Waldorf, Maryland, holds a sign that reads "Citizenship Won't Save You Being Sent to El Salvador" and a shirt that reads "Due Process Now" as she joins a group of protesters singing songs outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on May 16, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Protesters rallied outside the court during a hearing for a Maryland resident from El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is detained in a notoriously violent maximum-security prison in El Salvador after being deported last month.

U.S. Representatives Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) take part in a press conference to advocate for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man deported from the U.S. without due process by the Trump administration as an alleged MS-13 gang member and sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison, in San Salvador, El Salvador on April 21, 2025.

A protester holds a photo of Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia as demonstrators gather to protest against the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador outside the Permanent Mission of El Salvador to the United Nations on April 24, 2025 in New York City. Many of the deportees now detained at El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) were sent there without court hearings under the Alien Enemies Act after a deal was brokered by President Trump and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) hugs Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration, while speaking to reporters at Dulles International Airport on April 18, 2025, after his return to the U.S. from El Salvador.

Picture obtained from the X account of Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, @nayibbukele, showing US Senator Chris Van Hollen (L) shaking hands with Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia (R), a US citizen wrongfully deported to his home country, at a hotel in San Salvador on April 17, 2025. Van Hollen met with Salvadoran Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation has triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, left, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador, meets with Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen on April 17, 2025, at a hotel in San Salvador.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit was wrongfully deported in March 2025 to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks during a press conference at a hotel in San Salvador on April 17, 2025. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the day before that El Salvador had denied his request to release U.S. resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation triggered a political firestorm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, was stopped by armed guards at a military checkpoint Thursday, April 17, 2025, while on a trip to attempt to see Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador. US-based civil rights attorney Chris Newman is seen at left.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen speaks during a press conference at a city viewpoint in Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador, on April 16, 2025. Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday to press for the release of a US resident thrust to the center of a storm over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies when he was mistakenly deported to the Central American country. Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains imprisoned in a notorious jail in his native country despite a US federal judge's order, backed by the Supreme Court, for his return to the United States.

A Facebook post shows Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 16, 2025, as he is headed to El Salvador to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Protesters show support for Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, outside Federal Court on April 15, 2025 in Greenbelt, Md.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, speaks during a press conference on the day of a hearing in the case related to Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md. on April 15, 2025.

Protesters show support for Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia at Federal Court on April 15, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Protesters show support for Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia at Federal Court on April 15, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg speaks next to Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, during a press conference with other family members and supporters following a status hearing at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., April 11, 2025.

People attend a protest against the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on April 14, 2025 in Baltimore, Md.

President Donald Trump welcomes President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador to the White House on April 14, 2025.

People attend a protest against the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on April 14, 2025 in Baltimore, Md.

An activist holds signs for Kilmar Abrega Garcia, the Maryland man who was arrested and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration during a rally on April 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez. D-N.Y. (L) and Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif. (R) hold pictures of Kilmar Abrego Garcia during a news conference to discuss Abrego Garcia’s arrest and deportation at Cannon House Office Building on April 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.