The New York Times omitted key information on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s criminal background on Tuesday as it accused President Donald Trump’s administration of violating judges’ orders.
The Times’s piece, “Judges in Trump Deportation Cases Face Evasion and Delays From U.S. Officials,” claimed that the Trump administration has “hidden” what it knows about Garcia’s deportation in response to Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, who instructed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to tell her what steps they have taken to facilitate his return. While lamenting about Trump’s actions, the article did not mention Garcia’s alleged MS-13 status or possible human trafficking violations.
“Instead, the lawyers say, the Justice Department has hidden what it knows about Mr. Abrego Garcia’s deportation behind repeated claims of privilege,” the Times wrote. “They have also said that the department has offered witnesses for depositions who have little firsthand knowledge of the case and has sought at every turn to slow-walk disclosing documents and responding to questions.”
The piece quoted Garcia’s lawyers, who accused the Trump administration of acting in “bad faith” by not complying with court orders.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” in April that a judge’s order to return Garcia is invalid since Trump designated MS-13 as a domestic terror organization.
Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, was found loitering in a Home Depot parking lot on March 28, 2019, wearing “a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations,” which represents a “good standing” with MS-13, according to documents released by the DOJ on April 16. In December 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Garcia’s challenge to an immigration judge’s finding that he is “a verified member of MS-13.”
Although an immigration judge ordered Garcia be deported, he received a withholding of removal which allowed him to work in the U.S.
Authorities pulled Garcia over on a Tennessee highway in 2022 and suspected him of human smuggling after they discovered he was transporting eight passengers with no apparent luggage. The car belonged to an illegal immigrant named Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, who was sent to prison in 2020 for human smuggling.
The alleged gangbanger’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, sought a domestic violence restraining order against Garcia in 2021, according to court documents released by the Department of Homeland Security. She accused her husband of scratching and punching her eye, ripping her shirt and skirt off and making her bleed by throwing her laptop on the ground.
The Supreme Court ruled in an April 10 decision that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Garcia given that his deportation was a clerical error. El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told reporters on April 14 that he will not return Garcia to the U.S.
The Times did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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