Crisis and Cruelty: Illegal Abductions, Court Defiance, and the Case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

By now, you’ve probably heard the name Kilmar Abrego Garcia. His situation is not unique—he is one of hundreds of migrants who have been rounded up by the Trump administration and sent to a torture prison in El Salvador with no due process. So why is his case attracting so much attention? And why is Donald Trump igniting a full blown constitutional crisis over it?

The answer is not complicated: Donald Trump does not recognize the authority of the courts or the constitution to rein in his power. Despite a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return, the administration has taken no action. Trump would rather condemn a father and husband to life in a foreign torture prison than admit that his deportation regime has limits. And he wants to set the stage to be able to do to anyone—including *US citizens*—what he’s just done to Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

Let’s be very clear: Donald Trump has initiated an abduction and disappearance system that has been weaponized against immigrants and student activists. His administration has denied its targets due process and legal recourse. This is illegal and terrifying for the communities already under threat, and if we allow it to continue, the list of targets will grow. 

This system of disappearances and deportations to Salvadoran torture prisons must stop here. Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned home. We need every elected official with a platform to demand his return, and we need to spread this story far and wide.

"Stop the abductions. Bring Abrego Garcia home!" Image of Garcia with child.

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  • What Happened?

    • What Happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

    Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran immigrant and father of three who has lived in Maryland for over a decade. On March 12, Kilmar was arrested by immigration enforcement officers without a warrant in front of his 5-year-old child with autism. Within three days—with no due process afforded—the Trump administration deported him to a notorious torture prison in El Salvador.

    Kilmar is one of hundreds of Salvadoran immigrants who have been abducted and disappeared in this way since Trump was inaugurated. But his case stands out because of how blatantly illegal the actions of the Trump administration are.

    In 2019, a court ruled that Kilmar could not be deported to El Salvador because of the threats he faced there. That ruling should have given him legal protections against deportation, but the federal agents that detained Kilmar lied and said his legal status had changed. The Trump administration later admitted that his deportation was the result of an administrative error, and court proceedings have since affirmed that he must be returned to the US.

    On April 18, Senator Chris Van Hollen reported Abrego Garcia was moved to a different prison in El Salvador. But his continued incarceration is a violation of US law and the Trump regime's refusal to bring him home to his family is a violation of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling.

  • Unfolding Constitutional Crisis

    • The Unfolding Constitutional Crisis

    It’s important to be very clear: Donald Trump is defying the Supreme Court to keep this man in a foreign prison. 

    On April 10, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision and ordered that the Trump administration must facilitate Kilmar’s return to the US. In response, Trump has doubled down. His spokespeople have backtracked on the admissions that the deportation was the result of an administrative error, instead claiming that Kilmar is a terrorist, and the administration has the authority to disappear him without due process. They have even blatantly lied that the Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

    The legal proceedings are still unfolding, but one thing is clear: the administration intends to reject any ruling that orders Kilmar’s return, no matter which court issues it. This is a constitutional crisis, predicated on an illegal and amoral system of abductions and centered on the case of an innocent man condemned to imprisonment.

    And one thing is clear: If Donald Trump gets away with it, he will not stop there.

  • What is CECOT?

    • What is CECOT?

    Kilmar Abrego Garcia was initially held at CECOT, short for Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo. Hundreds of others, deported without any criminal record, remain there—and Trump is actively sending more people by the planeload. This notorious megaprison in El Salvador is a centerpiece of the carceral regime of President Nayib Bukele. Bukele, a close ally of Trump’s and a self-described dictator, has turned CECOT into a hub for human rights abuses. Inmates are shaved, denied communication with their families and lawyers, and international human rights organizations have reported instances of torture, malnutrition, and isolation. The limited images we have of conditions in the prison are reminiscent of scenes from the Nazi Holocaust—and yet Trump officials and Congressional Republicans have taken to using this backdrop for their twisted photo ops.

    President Trump’s use of CECOT for his deportation program is abhorrent on its own, but it has now functionally allowed him to “disappear” individuals like Kilmar by claiming that they are now in the custody of a foreign government, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of our courts. Bukele has been happy to play along, benefitting from Trump administration payments for the service of receiving and detaining deportees.

    All of this is terrifying, but it’s about to get much worse. Bukele is already planning to expand CECOT to accommodate the administration’s expanding deportations program, and Trump has made it clear he intends to send United States citizens to CECOT. This is plainly illegal, but he’s already defying the legal orders of our courts. If Trump and Bukele get away with the disappearance of Kilmar, they will take it as a green light to move forward with the disappearance of citizens.

  • The Insurrection Act

    • The Insurrection Act

    Amidst all of this is the looming threat of the Insurrection Act. On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That order gave DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 90 days to recommend additional actions—including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. The report is due on April 20.

    We don’t know what the report will say. And even if it does recommend invoking the Act, we don’t know whether Trump will act on it. But if he does, the intersection between enforcement, targeting, and disappearances to CECOT could explode in terrifying ways.

    There’s a spectrum of possibilities—and no way to know exactly how far he would go until he does. But here’s what could be on the table:

    • Troops deployed for domestic law enforcement—not just at the border, but potentially in cities across the country.
    • Military involvement in immigration raids, including far from the southern border.
    • Protests, organizing, and dissent met with an increased military presence under the guise of “maintaining order” — especially if protestors are accused of being terrorists.
    • A dangerous precedent: an emboldened executive branch normalizing the use of military force in civil society.

    Let’s be clear: this may not happen. But given the ongoing defiance of the courts, the system of disappearances, and the stated intention to deport US citizens, we must take seriously the overlapping threats.

    Learn more about the Insurrection Act with our explainer here.

  • So What Do We Do?

    • So What Do We Do?

    We need to treat this like the crisis moment it is. Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned home, and we must put an end to the regime of disappearances to a foreign torture prison.

    Some Members of Congress are already doing the right thing. Dozens of Democratic Members of Congress have called for Kilmar’s release, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. On April 16, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to insist on Kilmar’s release. We don’t know yet if Van Hollen will be successful, but he’s bringing much needed attention to Kilmar’s case. And other MoCs must follow his lead. 

    Here’s our role:

    1. Sound the alarm — Tell the world what’s happening, and what is about to happen. Share the story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and connect it to the disappearances of student activists and the Insurrection Act.

    2. Demand your elected officials to speak out — We’ll need every elected official using their platform to expose and challenge this abuse of power. That includes Democrats and Republicans speaking against not only this case, but the deportations writ large and the open defiance of the court.

    3. Join public protests – Calling our members of Congress won’t be enough; we know that. We need to continue to come together in the streets to defend our rights and our democracy. That includes demanding Kilmar Abrego Garcia be brought home, and for an end to Trump’s unconstitutional deportation regime.

    This is a Living Document

    We’ll keep updating it as the situation unfolds—with clear next steps, ways to plug in, legal resources, and tools to protect vulnerable communities.

    Right now, our job isn’t to panic. It’s to prepare.

  • TAKE ACTION NOW

    • TAKE ACTION NOW