An ‘Administrative Error’ Sends a Maryland Father to a Salvadoran Prison

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/an-administrative-error-sends-a-man-to-a-salvadoran-prison/682254/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo

37 comments

  1. Nick Miroff: “The Trump administration acknowledged in a court filing Monday that it had grabbed a Maryland father with protected legal status and mistakenly deported him to El Salvador, but said that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction to order his return from the megaprison where he’s now locked up. [https://theatln.tc/3kaHa0w7](https://theatln.tc/3kaHa0w7)

    The case appears to be the first time the Trump administration has admitted to errors when it sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador’s grim ‘Terrorism Confinement Center’ on March 15. Attorneys for several Venezuelan deportees have said that the Trump administration falsely labeled their clients as gang members because of their tattoos. Trump officials have disputed those claims.

    “But in Monday’s court filing, attorneys for the government admitted that the Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported accidentally. ‘Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,’ the government told the court. Trump lawyers said the court has no ability to bring him back now that Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody.

    “Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, said he’s never seen a case in which the government knowingly deported someone who had already received protected legal status from an immigration judge. He is asking the court to order the Trump administration to ask for Abrego Garcia’s return and, if necessary, to withhold payment to the Salvadoran government, which says it’s charging the United States $6 million a year to jail U.S. deportees.

    “Trump administration attorneys told the court to dismiss the request on multiple grounds, including that Trump’s ‘primacy in foreign affairs’ outweighs the interests of Garcia Abrego and his family.”

    Read the full article: [https://theatln.tc/3kaHa0w7](https://theatln.tc/3kaHa0w7)

  3. Correct me if I’m mistaken but this is why due process exists, to ensure people aren’t sent to overseas prisons erroneously.

    Could be wrong, not an authoritarian wannabe dictator.

  5. Trump doesn’t need the court’s help. One phone call to his buddy Bukele should suffice.

  6. Who could have guessed that when you ignore due process, innocent people are sent to labor camps? The US is getting closer to the USSR every day.

  7. >*“Trump administration attorneys told the court to dismiss the request on multiple grounds, including that Trump’s ‘primacy in foreign affairs’ outweighs the interests of Garcia Abrego and his family.”*

    Translation:

    We fucked up bad, because we didn’t give anyone due process. But trying to fix this would just give us a publicity problem, so the ~~family man~~ poor smuck can ~~unjustly~~ rot in prision to protect the administrations image.

  8. Administrative error my arse. This is precisely what you say when you ignore a protective order as was the case here. Somebody badly needs to be held in contempt for this until the man is returned. If the judiciary is ignored then the rule of law is no more.

  9. And for all we know every single other person who got sent is a citizen since there was literally zero due process to verify who they are. Welcome to Nazi America.

  10. Who made the error, and does this rise to the level of criminal negligence?

    Someone has to be put away for this.

  11. Every single mistake that is made should result in a multi million dollar lawsuit. Then this administration can answer to taxpayers why their incompetence has failed to cut down the waste

  12. I’m shocked that an administration busy texting upcoming war plans to a prominent journalist might have made such an error.

  13. Whoopsie did i send you to a slave labor camp? My bad i thought you were…born somewhere else? Wtf are we doing here 😑

  14. Well there goes another 50 million dollar lawsuit, way not to waste tax payer money.

  15. Seems completely against the fake values this regime barks about. Do dads matter? Yes. Don’t abduct and torture them, let them be dads…

  16. So let me get this straight once you enter this prison you’re basically gonna die there?

  17. It was horrific when they sent gang members to this prison.
    It was horrific when then ‘accidentally’ sent non-violent illegal immigrants to this prison.
    It was horrific when they sent legal immigrants to this prison…

    It will be horrific when they send the next group to this prison too.

  18. The lesson here is to run the fuck away if at all possible, because otherwise ICE will fly you out of the country illegally and defy the court when they order you be brought back

  20. Trump’s immigration policy will cost tax payers billions of dollars in future lawsuit payments.

    This is not very different than the internment of citizens of Japanese heritage during WWII.

  21. Jesus! This is terrifying! I am never going to travel to the US! NEVER!!!

  22. >So much going on, so much to say, and all of it happening so quickly.
    >
    >The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it, and that is the real trick of the Imperial thought machine. It’s easier to hide behind forty atrocities than a single incident.

    ~ Andor, S1E5

  23. This will be categorized as a complimentary vacation, fully funded by the federal government.

  24. The real story is we’re paying El Salvador $6 million a year for this service? Is that per inmate, or for all of them? Either way, that number raises my eyebrows.

  25. When or if this man is returned to the US, do you think he will have learned his lesson and, checks notes, not be Hispanic?

  26. How much is the lawsuit going to be?

    At least 20-30 million in damage. How can they fuck up this bad.

  27. It’s called ignoring the constitution…not an administrative error.

  28. They’ll probably say, “We will do our best to not let it happen again and we’ve learned our lesson.” Then the next time say, “It’s just collateral and collateral happens when you’re trying to make your country safe. We have to make sacrifices for our country.” Finally, they won’t even hide what they’re doing.

    They never actually cared if someone entered the country legally or not.

  30. Administrative error my fucking ass.

    This is a violation of due process and constitutional rights.

  32. Even if they do want to attempt to bring this guy home, what are the chances of ever finding him in that prison? I don’t see anyone involved in this keeping immaculate records.

  34. There need to be millions of people in the street over this.

  35. I blame 170ish million Americans for this. All the eligible voters not voting for Kamala. This was inevitable with Trump as President.

    If you voted for Trump you are pro toture.
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with torture.

    If you voted for Trump you are pro state sponsored kidnapping.
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with state sponsored kidnapping.

    If you voted for Trump you are pro genocide of the Palestinian people
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with the genocide of the Palestinian people

    If you voted for Trump you are against the sovereignty of Ukraine
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with Ukraine not having sovereignty

    If you voted for Trump you are against the separation of powers
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with not having separation of powers.

    If you voted for Trump you are pro corruption
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with corruption

    If you voted for Trump you are for threats against allies
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with threats against allies.

    If you voted for Trump you are against law and order
    If you voted for neither Trump nor Kamala you are fine with not having law and order

    I could keep going. I haven’t even mentioned the LGBTQ+ community yet. But this was what people warned about electing Trump as president again.

  36. Say their names. These mistakes are by design. The racist cruelty is the point.

    “But in Monday’s court filing, attorneys for the government admitted that the Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported accidentally. “Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” the government told the court. Trump lawyers said the court has no ability to bring him back now that Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody.”

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