Kilmar Abrego Garcia May Be Our Notorious War Crime Victim

And Perhaps Our Greatest Shame

Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen was denied any access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia this week when he traveled to El Salvador to try to determine the status of the recently abducted and falsely deported man.

The Trump administration has admitted that the removal of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s notorious megaprison known as CECOT was an “administrative error,” yet says they are powerless to return him to safety in the US. As a way to continue to make excuses for their actions, the Justice Department has launched an escalating flurry of press and documentation releases, including a specious arrest document from Abrego Garcia’s hometown in Prince George’s County, MD, where he was detained in 2019 along with two other men while looking for day labor in the parking lot of a Home Depot, a very common practice in the area.

At the time, Kilmar and two other men were in the Home Depot lot, hoping to be hired for landscaping, construction, or other day work, when the police detained them because of their tattoos and attire. As the charging document lists, the Gang Unit observed that he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, which they deem is gang-related, but their real “clue” was his hoodie which bore a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears, and…