Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, expressed disapproval over the freeing of illegal immigrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, described by Democrats as a “Maryland Man,” from federal detention.
In a DHS press statement, Noem criticized liberal activist judges for their efforts to “obstruct” U.S. law enforcement from deporting “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” She further criticized the judge responsible for Abrego Garcia’s release, saying the judge “has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people.”
Noem stated, “Activist liberal judges have tried to obstruct our law enforcement at every turn in removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our country,” according to the statement. “Today marks a new low with this publicity-hungry Maryland judge mandating the release of this illegal alien, an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator, back into society.”
Noem continued, “By ordering this predator onto American streets, this judge has demonstrated utter disregard for the safety of the American public. Our efforts will persist until this Salvadoran individual faces justice and is expelled from our nation.”
Abrego Garcia’s release follows U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes’s order to free him from a Tennessee jail, where he’d been detained after being released from an El Salvador prison, NBC News reports.
Under the conditions of Abrego Garcia’s release, he is required to adhere to “a series of conditions” and report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at the agency’s Baltimore field office:
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in the Middle District of Tennessee ordered Abrego’s release from a jail near Nashville, Tennessee, where he had been held since he was freed from El Salvador’s CECOT prison in June.
Abrego is en route to his family in Maryland, Sean Hecker, one of his attorneys, said.
Abrego was “unlawfully arrested and deported, and then imprisoned, all because of the government’s vindictive attack on a man who had the courage to fight back against the Administration’s continuing assault on the rule of law,” Hecker said in a statement.
– News reported that Abrego Garcia was released “amid claims that he was improperly sent home to El Salvador, despite the sudden end of the gang battles that he claimed in 2019 would endanger his life.”
Democrats such as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have advocated for Abrego Garcia and have flown to El Salvador to meet with him after he was deported by the Trump administration after he was accused of being a MS-13 gang member and alleged human smuggler.
– News reported that Abrego Garcia faced accusations that he had allegedly beaten his wife several times and that he was allegedly a member of the MS-13 gang.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has stated that when Abrego Garcia was arrested, he was “found with rolls of cash and drugs,” he was arrested with two other members of the MS-13 gang, and that when Abrego Garcia was arrested, “he was wearing what is effectively MS-13’s uniform.”
