The mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego García

Summary

Post Reports: The Mistaken Deportation of Kilmar Abrego García

Episode Release Date: April 15, 2025 | Hosts: Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Post Reports, hosted by Colby Ekowitz, The Washington Post delves into the harrowing case of Kilmar Abrego García—a Salvadoran immigrant mistakenly deported from the United States to El Salvador. This incident not only underscores significant flaws within the U.S. immigration system but also highlights the complex interplay between U.S. immigration policies and international relations, particularly with El Salvador.

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U.S.-El Salvador Relations and Immigration Policy

The episode opens with an account of a notable meeting between former President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. In a display of mutual admiration, Trump states at [00:07] “I want to just say hello to the people of El Salvador and say they have one hell of a president,” referring to Bukele, who proudly calls himself “the world's coolest dictator” ([00:13]).

This alliance is crucial as the U.S. allocates millions to El Salvador for detaining deportees in the country’s notorious megaprison. Trump commended Bukele’s efforts: “He’s done a fantastic job, Mr. President” ([00:31]). The collaboration aims to curb the flow of undocumented migrants from El Salvador to the U.S., leveraging El Salvador’s strict detention policies as part of the broader immigration strategy.

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The Case of Kilmar Abrego García

Who Is Kilmar Abrego García?

Kilmar Abrego García, a sheet metal apprentice from Maryland, embodies the human cost of immigration policy failures. At [03:28], Maria Sacchetti, an immigration reporter, details Kilmar’s background: “He’s married. He’s the father of a five-year-old boy who has autism and is non-verbal. He’s helping his wife, who’s a U.S. citizen, raise her two other children.”

Originally from El Salvador, Kilmar fled at age 16 to escape gang extortion and recruitment efforts by groups like Barrio Di Siocho ([03:46]). He lived in the U.S. legally for several years, contributing to his community and supporting his family.

The Deportation Error

Despite his clean record, Kilmar was erroneously deported in March, as Sacchetti explains: “He was detained for deportation and put on a flight to El Salvador on March 15” ([07:44]). This deportation occurred despite a 2019 immigration court decision that granted him withholding of removal—a protection that prevented his deportation due to the risk of persecution or death in El Salvador ([07:03]).

Legal Battle and Court Proceedings

The wrongful deportation ignited a significant legal battle:

1. Initial Deportation and Judicial Findings: In 2019, an immigration judge in Maryland granted Kilmar withholding of removal after determining that returning him to El Salvador would endanger his life ([07:03]). However, in March, Kilmar was deported without due process, leading to immediate legal repercussions.

2. DOJ Admission and Judicial Orders: Sacchetti reveals that an ICE officer admitted the deportation was a mistake, acknowledging it as an administrative error ([08:21]). On April 4th, a U.S. District Judge ordered Kilmar’s return, a decision swiftly appealed by the Trump administration. The appellate court criticized the government’s handling, stating, “literally said the government screwed up” ([11:59]).

3. Supreme Court Involvement: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s order, affirming that Kilmar was subject to due process rights and labeling the deportation illegal ([12:48]). Despite this, the Trump administration contends that foreign policy complexities with El Salvador render compliance challenging ([14:37]).

Sacchetti emphasizes the precarious situation: “It’s not just a question of legality, it’s a question of will” ([15:29]). The administration’s stance threatens to undermine judicial authority, potentially leading to a constitutional crisis if the executive branch defies the Supreme Court’s mandate.

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The Trump-Bukele Alliance and Its Implications

The episode shifts focus to the broader implications of the Trump-Bukele relationship on immigration policy. Trump’s praise for El Salvador’s megaprison system is evident when he remarks: “I just asked the president... Can you build some more of them, please?” ([15:54]). Additionally, Trump controversially suggests expanding deportations to include “homegrown criminals” ([16:06]).

Sacchetti critiques this alliance, highlighting the risks it poses: “He’s in a jail where there are allegedly gang members who a judge specifically found pose a threat to his life” ([20:02]). The partnership allows the U.S. to deport individuals to a country with a history of human rights abuses under Bukele’s regime, effectively sidestepping the U.S. legal protections afforded to immigrants like Kilmar.

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Current Status and Humanitarian Concerns

As of the episode’s airing, Kilmar remains detained in El Salvador’s megaprison—a facility notorious for overcrowding, violence, and inadequate conditions. Sacchetti underscores the dire circumstances: “He’s facing confinement, which is really besides execution” ([19:08]). There is a profound fear for his safety, given the high likelihood of encountering violent gang members in a prison environment designed to contain such threats.

Despite legal victories in U.S. courts, the Trump administration’s reluctance to comply with court orders leaves Kilmar’s fate uncertain. Sacchetti warns of the broader implications: “The immigration system is secret... The government has such extraordinary powers” ([26:05]), suggesting a potential slippery slope where wrongful deportations could become routine without accountability.

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Conclusion and Future Outlook

The episode concludes with a sobering reflection on the intersection of immigration policy, judicial authority, and international relations. Sacchetti posits that if the Trump administration successfully prevents Kilmar’s repatriation, it could set a dangerous precedent, undermining the rule of law and endangering countless lives ([25:43]).

Post Reports emphasizes the urgent need for judicial reinforcement and policy reevaluation to prevent further injustices. The Kilmar Abrego García case serves as a poignant example of the human consequences of politicized immigration strategies and highlights the critical role of investigative journalism in holding power accountable.

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Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump ([00:31]): “He’s done a fantastic job, Mr. President.”

• Nayib Bukele ([00:20]): “Well, it's an honor to be here in Washington with the president and leader of the real world. We're very happy.”

• Maria Sacchetti ([03:28]): "He’s married. He’s the father of a five-year-old boy who has autism and is non-verbal. He’s helping his wife, who’s a U.S. citizen, raise her two other children."

• Maria Sacchetti ([05:20]): "He failed to show up for court. That's a knock on him, according to the judge."

• Maria Sacchetti ([14:22]): “The Supreme Court says the U.S. acknowledges that he was subject to this court order forbidding his removal to El Salvador and that the removal was therefore illegal.”

• Maria Sacchetti ([16:45]): “I have so many questions about the legality of sending people from a country where they have due process rights. I mean, I can say I've covered immigration a long time. I've never seen anything like this.”

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This detailed episode summary encapsulates the critical issues surrounding Kilmar Abrego García’s wrongful deportation, the legal battles ensuing, and the broader implications for U.S. immigration policy. By intertwining firsthand reporting with expert analysis, Post Reports provides a comprehensive understanding of a case that could redefine immigrant rights and executive authority in America.

Transcript

[Colby Ekowitz]

On Monday, President Donald Trump welcomed an unlikely ally to the White House.

[Donald Trump]

And I want to just say hello to the people of El Salvador and say they have one hell of a president.

[Colby Ekowitz]

The leader of El Salvador, President Naya Bukele, a man who has called himself, quote, the world's coolest dictator.

[Nayib Bukele]

Well, it's an honor to be here in Yoelof is with the president and leader of the real world. We're very happy.

[Colby Ekowitz]

The two men exchanged praise for each other.

[Donald Trump]

He's done a fantastic job, Mr. President.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And they talked about the important role El Salvador is playing in Trump's immigration policy because currently the US Is paying El Salvador millions of dollars to detain deportees from the US and to lock them up in the country's notorious megaprison.

[Nayib Bukele]

We know that you have a crime problem and a terrorism problem that you need help with, and we're a small country, but if we can.

[Colby Ekowitz]

This meeting happened at a critical time for immigration policy in the United States because in the courts right now, there's a battle brewing over the fate of one of those deported migrants in a Salvadoran prison, a man named Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Justice Department officials acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from the US To El Salvador last month. And this error has erupted into a monumental legal battle, one that could define the rights of immigrants and the very boundaries of executive power. The US Supreme Court says Trump officials must facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. But the Trump administration refuses to bring him home. And Bukele says he won't help either.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Do you plan to return him?

[Nayib Bukele]

Well, I guess I'm supposed to suggest that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States, right? They tell me, how can I smuggle. How can I return him to the United States? Like I smuggle him into the United States, or what do I do? Of course I'm not going to do it. It's like, I mean, the question is preposterous.

[Colby Ekowitz]

To be clear, the government has not offered any evidence that Abrego Garcia has ever been charged with a crime.

[Nayib Bukele]

How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And this standoff over Abrego Garcia's return is the latest test of Trump's willingness to openly defy the courts. From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Cole bjkowicz. It's Tuesday, April 15th. Today, I'm talking with immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti about this extraordinary case and how Abrego Garcia became collateral damage in Trump's immigration fight. And we'll get into other alarming plans from Trump about the possibility of deporting US Citizens, something Trump says he has, quote, no problem with.

[Donald Trump]

If it's a homegrown criminal, I have no problem.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Maria, hi, thanks for joining us.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Thanks for having me.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So we're going to get deeper into the meeting between Trump and Bukele a little later in the show. But first I really want to focus on this case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Who is he and what happened to him?

[Maria Sacchetti]

So Kilmar is a sheet metal apprentice. He lives in Maryland. He's married. He's the father of a five year old boy who has autism and is non verbal. And he's helping his wife, who's a U.S. citizen raise her two other children.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And he's from El Salvador originally?

[Maria Sacchetti]

Yes. Kilmar arrived in the United States when he was 16 years old. So he was part of a growing number of minors, underage migrants who are coming to the United States, many of them to work because El Salvador at the time was considered quite dangerous. So Kilmar arrived around 2011 and he crossed the border illegally. He says he left El Salvador because gang members, members of Barrio Di Siocho, were shaking down his mother's pupusa business. They were trying to extort her, trying to get money. And they were also trying to recruit him and his brother into their gang. And they weren't interested. The family moved around El Salvador. They tried to escape, they said, but eventually they had to leave one by one. And so he was 16 years old. And eight years later, he is standing in a Home Depot where a lot of construction workers, day laborers go. And so that's where the police found a group and Kilmar was there and they detained them and brought them in for questioning. They asked him about gangs. Kilmar says he didn't know anything about a gang because he wasn't in one. In fact, you know, he had fled the gangs. And so he wasn't charged with anything. But what the police did do is turn him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement because the fact that he was here illegally, which he was, is enough to put him in, in a different kind of jail, immigration jail.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And so what did an immigration judge, this was now during the first Trump administration, right? In 2019. Exactly what did an immigration judge decide about his case?

[Maria Sacchetti]

So that's what you're seeing. You have to look at this so carefully. So he's an undocumented immigrant. He'd been there by then for several years. No criminal record, no arrests. So about one month after he is detained, he has an initial hearing before a judge in Maryland, and she looks at the record. He'd been given traffic violations, and he failed to show up for court. That's a knock on him, according to the judge. And there is some sort of police record, which nobody has seen, that I know of, we've asked for it, that says he was a member of the MS.13 gang with roots in the United States and also El Salvador. So it's considered a transnational gang. He immediately objects to this. He says he's not a member of a gang. You know, he says that's not true. But the judge decides to give deference in this case to the police. So she's going to hold him pending a full evidentiary hearing. And at the full evidentiary hearing, where a judge examines the evidence, hears testimony, listens to witnesses, hears arguments from both sides, the judge came to a different kind of conclusion. So this judge said, and he noted in his decision in a footnote, that Kilmar had been labeled a gang member. But the judge found that Kilmar had testified credibly that he had actually fled a different gang, Barrio di Siocho, Barrio 18, and came to the United States, and that it would be too dangerous to send him home to his native El Salvador. And one thing the United States does not do, is not supposed to do is send someone to a place where they would face persecution or death.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So the final decision by the judge was also prohibiting his removal from the country. Right, because he would face potential harm or death in El Salvador.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Exactly. So the judge granted him something called withholding of removal, and it's actually more difficult to get than asylum. Withholding of removal, you have to prove that it's more likely than not that you'll get persecuted if you're sent home. But that withholding of removal is very specific. He could be deported, you know, someday if someone went back to immigration court and made different arguments. But the judge said it's too dangerous to send him back to his native country, to El Salvador, and he withheld his deportation.

[Colby Ekowitz]

But despite that, tell us what happened to Kilmar.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Last month, lawyers for Kilmar say after work, he had picked up his son and was driving home, and he was stopped by immigration officers and detained for deportation. He was on one of three flights to El Salvador on March 15. This was after Trump had secretly signed the Alien Enemies act, which sent a portion of that group back without a hearing, alleging that they were Venezuelan gang members, but others on the plane were people who had had deportation proceedings or had deportation orders. And apparently the way they interpreted Kilmar's case was that he had a deportation order.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So he gets deported, and now where do we think he is? Do we know where he is?

[Maria Sacchetti]

We think he's in the terrorism Confinement center in El Salvador, which is a prison, a sprawling prison that is supposed to be for gang members. And so you've taken somebody who a judge, an immigration judge found, you know, his life would be at risk if he were sent back to El Salvador because of gangs, and you've put them into a prison filled with alleged gang members.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Now, Trump, as I understand it, is justifying his deportation and his arrest because he claims that he is a member of Ms. 13, is that correct?

[Maria Sacchetti]

That is their claim. And DHS, we've asked them for evidence of that, and DHS said it would be a national security risk to release that information. But he's been here for many years. Not a single arrest. Now, Devil's Advocates say they have an argument to make. What Kilmar's lawyers would say is just put up the evidence, then they can go back to immigration court. They can kick the media out of the courtroom. I don't condone that, by the way, but that's allowed in immigration court under some circumstances, and they can do that. They can make their case and they could file things under seal.

[Colby Ekowitz]

But so far, they have provided no evidence that he is actually part of a gang.

[Maria Sacchetti]

I haven't seen any evidence. Zero.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And so Kilmer does have legal representation, and they've sued on his behalf. Kind of walk me through what the legal proceedings have looked like since they first filed a suit on his behalf.

[Maria Sacchetti]

So he's deported, and his lawyers, his family, are just scrambling to find out what happened to him. You know, his wife is watching these videos that, that the U.S. and El Salvador have been sharing online, you know, trying to recognize her husband. She can recognize him through his tattoos, some scars in his head. Remember that after they were taken off the flights, they were, of course, in shackles, arm and leg shackles. But then their heads were forcibly shaved. Within days, his lawyers file a lawsuit trying to bring him back. The challenge is that he's in another country under someone else's power, and a judge holds a hearing on April 4, and extraordinary things happen there. Of Justice Lawyer who has been there a long time and represented the Trump administration, the Biden administration, in court. He's a career veteran and he says in open court that he could not explain why the government couldn't return Abrego Garcia to the United States. And he just is very candid with the court, saying he's not getting answers to his questions from the government. So DOJ suspended him the next day for failing to zealously defend the government. But even before that, in court filings in late March, an ICE officer admitted that deporting Abrego Garcia was a mistake. They acknowledged that a court order forbidded it, the immigration court order from 2019, and said it was an administrative error.

[Colby Ekowitz]

An oversight, that taking this man and putting him in an infamous prison in El Salvador was just like a clerical error. And then what happened?

[Maria Sacchetti]

So that April 4th hearing where the DOJ lawyer candidly said, you know, I'm not getting any answers from my clients, the government, the US District judge ordered Abrego Garcia to be returned to the United States. And the Trump administration immediately appealed. And three days later, a three judge panel at the appeals court said, literally said the government screwed up in those words.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Wow.

[Maria Sacchetti]

And they said that the government can and does return wrongfully removed migrants as a matter of course it happens, and that the government should go and do that. And one other interesting thing in the appeals court, you know, the US Government is correct in that El Salvador is a sovereign country, right? And he is a citizen of El Salvador. So it is a delicate situation to go into another country and demand the return of one of their citizens. But the US Government in this case is paying El Salvador to detain him and hundreds of others. So the argument in the appeals court was, well, the US Government must have a say in what happens to him.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So then the Justice Department challenges the order in front of the US Supreme Court. So now you have the US Supreme Court involved. What happens next?

[Maria Sacchetti]

So the US Supreme Court, they upheld the lower court's orders and said that the judge could order the government to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States. The Supreme Court stopped short, though, of saying that the judge could order the government to effectuate the order. And even, you know, Kilmar's lawyers acknowledged this difficulty in court. They said, you know, the US Government can ask El Salvador nicely to let him return to the United States where his family is, where he's lived for a long time. And, you know, they could detain him and go back and have some more immigration court proceedings if they wanted to try to do that. But this, in this particular case, they were asking them to facilitate the return the US And El Salvador, as you could see in the White House, have very warm relations right now. And they said they could ask the government to do that.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And this was a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court. Right. That the US should, in fact, facilitate the return of Garcia Garcia, because it was the United States mistake that he was even there in the first place.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Well, it was an unsigned order. And so they said they all agreed on the concept that he had due process. To me, the most interesting thing is that the Supreme Court says the U.S. acknowledges that he was subject to this court order forbidding his removal to El Salvador and that the removal was therefore illegal. You know, they say it very plainly. It's on April 10th in a written order. And that's really clear language from the court.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah, I mean, and the Supreme Court has final say. Right. They're this last stop. And so is Trump following their orders? Is he gonna start the process of at least facilitating bringing Abrego Garcia home?

[Maria Sacchetti]

Well, I mean, the challenge here is the Trump administration is arguing that there are foreign policy issues, as they have all along. So even though the government has acknowledged initially that this was an illegal return, there was a lot of debate over that since they suspended the Department of Justice lawyer who had acknowledged that. Others in the administration are trying to say that it was all right to return him. But every single court has said that this was an illegal act. But now he's out of the country, and now it becomes an issue of foreign policy. And so it's not just a question of legality, it's a question of will. And foreign policy, that's something the executive branch has broad powers over. And they're arguing that, you know, what we saw yesterday at the White House, that President Bukele doesn't want to bring him back.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah, Maria, I want to. You know, this brings us to that point, right? This whole legal saga that you laid out has played out over the last several weeks. And then we see El Salvador's president, President Bukele, come to D.C. to meet with Trump, and they're seated side by side in the Oval Office, and they are asked specifically about Abrego Garcia's case. And then there's some tape we heard at the top of the show. But Trump also says something else that I want to listen to.

[Donald Trump]

And I just asked the president, you know, it's this massive complex that he built, jail complex. I said, can you build some more of them, please? As many as we can get out of our country that we're allowed.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Trump praises Bukele for the megaprision in El Salvador. And then he also notes something else about, quote, homegrown criminals.

[Donald Trump]

But we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking that are absolute monsters. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you'll have to be looking at the laws on that, Steve. Okay.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Samari, you hear those comments from Trump. What is your reaction to that?

[Maria Sacchetti]

I mean, as a reporter, I, you know, I have so many questions about the legality of sending people from a country where they have due process rights. I mean, I can say I've covered immigration a long time. I've never seen anything like this.

[Colby Ekowitz]

After the break, we discuss the conditions of El Salvador's mega prison and what it means if Trump makes no attempt to get Abrego Garcia out. We'll be right back.

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[Colby Ekowitz]

After this meeting in the White House with Bukele, it really sounds like there are no plans to bring Abrego Garcia back to Maryland from either the government of El Salvador or the United States. And so right now he's stuck in this megaprison in El Salvador. Can you tell us a little bit about what we know about what conditions he's probably facing there?

[Maria Sacchetti]

Well, I mean, for one thing, he's facing confinement, which is really besides execution. You know, it's the most powerful thing a government can do to somebody. And that's why we have so many protections in the United States and other countries for something like that. You get hearings, you get proceedings. It has to. Beit's supposed to be just you can have a lawyer. And we have no idea what basis he's being jailed for. And if he's been deported to his home country, why isn't he in jail? You know, normally deportees are let go.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah.

[Maria Sacchetti]

So there's a million just basic, you know, human rights questions and legal questions there that, as a reporter, give me pause. But separate from that, he's in a jail where there are allegedly gang members who a judge specifically found pose a threat to his life. So his lawyers have said every day his life is at imminent risk. They fear for his life. This jail is a mega prison. There's shortages of food and water. There's violence. People have died. It's considered a place where dangerous offenders are held. So that's where he is.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And has anyone spoken to him? His lawyers, his wife? Has there been any contact with him that we know of?

[Maria Sacchetti]

We had a recent court filing from the government that said he's alive.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So Trump has, obviously he's created this deal with El Salvador where he's just gonna keep sending people there. Why there? Tell me a little bit more about the relationship that the US has with El Salvador, that Trump now has with Bukele. Why are we sending people specifically to El Salvador?

[Maria Sacchetti]

Well, the US And El Salvador, I mean, there's a long history there. They had a horrific war with extreme human rights abuses in the 80s and in the early 90s. And then that was followed by extreme crime. The United States deported a lot of gang members there. The country, you know, it's just a fledgling democracy at the time, was unprepared for that. And so they, for a long time were known as kind of one of the murder capitals of the world. And a lot of people fled to the United States and a lot of people fled the gangs. So Bekele is a complex figure. You know, as you're saying, he's very much about taking a hard line. He's created these prisons and made a spectacle of locking up people, shaving their heads. But crime has dropped, and so has migration. And I know a lot of Salvadorans completely support him. You know, the Constitution barred him from running for a second term. He did anyway, and they adore him because now it's so much safer than it was. I mean, when we were in El Salvador a few years ago, we went through one of the. The neighborhood that was extremely dangerous and patrolled by soldiers. And we went up to talk to some of the soldiers, and they were trembling, and they had heavy weapons, and they were terrified. You go up, you know, in the morning, and there would be bodies in the street. And we saw all that personally. And this is something people live with. You know, it's an incredible terror that people have experienced.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah.

[Maria Sacchetti]

And he went door to door and pulled out gang members and put them in those prisons. But there's human rights abuses, and people support it until all of a sudden, it's your son locked up in a prison like that because he had tattoos and he's not a gang member.

[Colby Ekowitz]

I mean, Trump, it seems, thinks that he can kind of circumvent the legal system in the United States by sending these people somewhere where it is more lawless, where Bukele can just do whatever he wants to people he perceives as criminals or gang members.

[Maria Sacchetti]

I mean, the Trump administration is now arguing that Kilmar is a citizen of El Salvador and that's where he belongs, and they're painting him as a terrorist without any evidence of that.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And so thanks for bringing it back to Kilmar, because I wanted to ask you. The Trump administration is making the case they don't have to bring him back. They don't have to follow the Supreme Court's ruling that they need to facilitate his return. What do you make of the Trump administration's argument that they don't have to?

[Maria Sacchetti]

Well, that is going to be for a judge to decide, because it is a complex question, and the Supreme Court acknowledged that in its decision. They said the government needed to facilitate his return and not effectuate it, which is an acknowledgment that El Salvador is a sovereign country and the US doesn't have power over it.

[Colby Ekowitz]

I've heard the words constitutional crisis thrown around a lot in the last 24 hours, because to an average person, it looks like the White House is defying a Supreme Court order. They said facilitate bringing him back. The administration saying, no, we're not going to do that. I mean, can the Supreme Court do anything that forces the White House to comply?

[Maria Sacchetti]

That is going to be an interesting question. I mean, you remember during the first Trump administration when he forcibly separated migrant parents and children, that was considered the biggest debacle. He retreated from that decision. But a judge ordered the government to put the families back together because Trump administration separated them without a plan to restore those families. So the judge ordered them to do that. Now, some of those parents had been deported, but the judge said, you have to find a way to put the families back together. The judge had jurisdiction in this country to reunite the families, and he oversaw it meticulously. And so this is the challenge now for this particular judge in Maryland, this federal judge. She is keeping a close eye on this. She understands the stakes, that Kilmar's life could be in danger, but she's walking a delicate line. And every day, every pushback is a question of how far the government will go. Obviously, the government has a good relationship with El Salvador. They're contracting with El Salvador. They're paying them to detain people. They're going to do it in the future. So that is an ongoing relationship. So a lot of people don't find it credible that the Trump administration says it can't get El Salvador to do something diplomatically.

[Colby Ekowitz]

If the Trump administration ultimately succeeds in leaving Abrego Garcia in this Salvadorian prison, what do you fear that opens the door to? It seems like if they can just make a clerical error and then say, oops, sorry, we can't do anything about it now, is anyone safe from being rounded up and deported to El Salvador?

[Maria Sacchetti]

The immigration system is secret, Right. And it's an interesting test of this because the executive branch has such extraordinary powers. The arrests they have been publicizing are very dangerous criminals sometimes where the government made mistakes also in their cases, which we've reported on, but that becomes propaganda because they're not telling us everybody they arrest, just the ones that fit their narrative. We want to know about everybody so we can put it into perspective for readers. So in this case, you know, the government secretly arrested hundreds of people. He was one of them, and sent them into a prison. And the question is, what's next?

[Colby Ekowitz]

Maria, thank you so much for joining us and for all your incredible reporting on this issue.

[Maria Sacchetti]

Thanks for having me.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Maria Sichetti is an immigration reporter for the Post. In the latest court filing from the Trump administration, on Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security officials said they could not get Abrego Garcia out of the prison in El Salvador, but they added that DHS would allow him back into the United States if El Salvador released it. But as for what happens once he's back here, DHS said they would detain him and try to deport him to another country. Or they would revoke his withholding of removal status, the one he got back in 2019, citing allegations that he's an Ms. 13 member. And then they'd try to deport him to El Salvador once again. That's it for Post Reports. Thanks for listening. If you want to show your support for the show and the kind of in depth immigration reporting you heard here, please subscribe to the Washington Post. Not only is it a great way to help us continue to do this work, but you can now get access to Washington Post podcasts ad free in Apple Podcasts. Today's show was produced by Ariel Plotnik with help from Rennie Svirnovsky. It was mixed by Sam Baer and edited by Rena Flores. Thanks to Christine Amario. Thanks also to Lucas Trevor and Lucy Perkins. I'm Colby Ekowitz. We'll be back tomorrow with more stories from the Washington Post.

[Maria Sacchetti]

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