Later in 2019, a U.S. immigration judge shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faced persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized his family. The Trump administration deported him there anyway, later describing the mistake as “an administrative error” but insisting he was in MS-13.

The wife of wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a temporary order of protection against him in 2021 in which she cited domestic violence, court documents show.