Kilmar Abrego Garcia 2019 Court Prder
The Department of Justice has released a document in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 and recently included an allegation, without providing evidence, that the 29-year-old was also involved in human trafficking. But in court documents examined by News4, the only allegation Abrego Garcia was in a gang came from one Prince George’s County police officer who was later fired for misconduct in office.
The released document is the final order from an immigration judge issued Oct. 10, 2019 giving Abrego Garcia the legal status to remain in the United States.
On page two at the bottom, it says, “Exhibit 4 is a Prince George’s County Police Department Gang field interview sheet. It was issued for the limited purpose of showing that the respondent was labeled a gang member by law enforcement.”
The attorney who represented Abrego Garcia in that proceeding said it was written by officer Ivan Mendez, who claimed a confidential source came forward to say Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13.
In fact, in a document denying Abrego Garcia bail the first time on april 29 2019, a different immigration judge wrote, “the determination that the respondent is a gang member appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record, namely information contained in the gang field interview sheet.”
That “sheet” was released today by the Department of Justice and says when officers stopped Abrego Garcia, he was with two known members of MS-13 and a third man suspected of being in the gang.