Trump addresses Kilmar Abrego Garcia case in Oval Office press conference, claims he is a member of MS-13

At a press conference held in the White House Oval Office, President Donald Trump answered questions about the deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland resident sent to El Salvador on March 15.

Trump defended his Administration's action, presenting a series of accusations against Ábrego García to justify his transfer to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a Salvadoran mega-prison.

As Trump read it, Ábrego García is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador with an active deportation order. The president also claimed that two judges determined that Ábrego García is a member of the MS-13 gang.

In addition, the Republican also alleged that Ábrego García was arrested with "rolls of money coming out of his sweatshirt," along with two MS-13 gang members, and that he was stopped for speeding while transporting seven people from Texas to Maryland.

He further noted that Abrego Garcia's wife accused him of domestic violence, referring to a protection order filed in 2021, which, according to the wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, was a family-resolved preventative measure.

Trump administration distances itself from Democrats

On Thursday night, the White House released a split-screen image highlighting the contrast between Republican and Democratic positions on illegal immigration, in the context of the deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García.

The image, accompanied by the message "We are not the same" and tagging Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, encapsulates the political tensions surrounding this case, which has generated a legal and diplomatic standoff.

In one half of the image, President Donald Trump is shown consoling Patty Morin, Rachel Morin's mother, in the Oval Office. Rachel Morin was brutally beaten, raped and murdered in Maryland in 2023 by Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal migrant from El Salvador convicted of first-degree murder and rape.

Patty Morin, who visited the White House on Wednesday, expressed her frustration at a news conference, criticizing Sen. Van Hollen for not contacting her after her daughter's death and for using public funds to travel to El Salvador in support of Abrego Garcia.

The other half of the image shows Van Hollen meeting with Kilmar Ábrego García in El Salvador.

Who is Ábrego García?

Ábrego García, 29, was deported last March 15 to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a Salvadoran mega-prison, despite having a 2019 court order prohibiting his deportation to El Salvador due to fears of persecution.

The Trump administration admitted in court documents that the deportation was an "administrative error," but now maintains that Ábrego García is an active member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation his family and lawyers deny, pointing out that he has no criminal record in the United States or El Salvador.

Van Hollen, who called the deportation "absolutely unjust and illegal," traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday to advocate for Abrego Garcia's release. After initially being denied access to the CECOT prison and a meeting with the detainee, the senator managed to meet with Ábrego García on Thursday night.

“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar" Van Hollen wrote on X. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love.”

A judicial escalation

Both a federal district court, presided over by Judge Paula Xinis and the US Supreme Court, have ordered the Trump Administration to "facilitate" Ábrego García's return to the United States for the appropriate immigration proceedings.

However, the Administration has resisted, arguing that the decision rests with the government of El Salvador.

For her part, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that Ábrego García will not return to the United States unless El Salvador decides to do so, declaring, "He is not coming back to our country." 

Along those lines, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, after meeting with Trump on Monday, compared Ábrego García's return to "smuggling" an alleged terrorist.

The Ábrego García case continues to unfold, with Van Hollen vowing to continue his fight for the detainee's return and US courts pressuring the Trump Administration to comply with court orders.