On March 17, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration began a crackdown on alleged members of Tren de Aragua. The Venezuelan gang is now renowned as a “transnational criminal organisation” after its leader’s escape. Last year, it was estimated that Tren de Aragua had 5,000 members and annual profits of $10 million to $15 million. Although the gang is smaller and less wealthy than most, it has been described as a “brutal organisation” by a Chile prosecutor, and often compared to the ultra-violent MS-13 gang from El Salvador. Tren de Aragua has been accused of being involved in sex trafficking across the U.S. border by the US Treasury under former President Joe Biden’s presidency, and Trump has accused the gang of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion of predatory incursion against the United States on March 15. Now, any deported members suspected of being in the gang are being sent to a prison in El Salvador, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), or the Terrorism Confinement Center. Despite a court order prohibiting the expulsion of these suspects, the deportation continues.
The situation escalated on April 1, when the Trump administration acknowledged that it had mistakenly deported a Maryland man with protected legal status. Lawyers of the mistaken deportee, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, claim that he is not affiliated with any street gang, and have argued that the U.S. government “has never produced an iota of evidence.” Despite this, the Trump administration has argued against returning him to the United States, intent on keeping out any possible ties with terrorism. Next, Abrego Garcia was sent to CECOT in El Salvador, which activists claimed was rife with abuses and poor conditions for inmates, who are packed into cells and never allowed outside. Garcia’s deportation triggered immediate outrage among immigrant advocates, which prompted Vice President JD Vance and other officials to repeat the allegation that he was a gang member.
Abrego Garcia’s allegations come from a 2019 arrest. Garcia first entered the U.S. illegally from El Salvador in 2012, according to court documents, to which his lawyers claimed that he was “fleeing gang violence” and threats of kidnapping and murder towards his family. He then joined his older brother, a legal U.S. citizen in Maryland, but was later detained by the police in March 2019. Garcia and three other people in Hyattsville, Maryland, were in the parking lot of a Home Depot, and the officers declared that he men were “loitering.” Upon their arrests, the officers identified Garcia and two of the others as members of MS-13. Afterwards, the police detailed their observations in a document titled the “Gang Field Interview Sheet,” where they wrote that Garcia was wearing a “Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears, and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations.” The officers used Garcia’s clothing to defend their claims that he was part of MS-13, saying that it was “indicative of the Hispanic gang culture” and that wearing the hat proved Garcia was in “good standing with the MS-13.” The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, with no ties to MS-13. After deciding that he was a member of MS-13, the police then demanded more information about other gang members. Garcia defended that he was not a gang member and had no information, but he was later turned over to ICE.
When asked to release Garcia at an immigration court, ICE argued that the local police had “verified” his gang membership, citing his Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie. To further back their claims, ICE shared that a confidential informant had claimed that Garcia belonged to MS-13’s “Western clique” in New York, despite having never lived there. In the end, Garcia was forced to file for asylum, and his lawyer submitted a report to establish his eligibility for protection due to the unfounded allegations of gang membership. In response, ICE repeated the information previously provided by local police. Later in October 2019, an immigration judge denied Garcia’s asylum request, but he was granted protection from being deported back to El Salvador. However, the ruling was bypassed in 2025 when he was forced back to El Salvador by an airplane.
When reviewing the case on April 11, the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 unanimous vote that the Trump administration had to release Garcia and bring him back to the U.S. After the ruling, lawyers from the administration went in front of Judge Xinis of the Maryland district court to explain how they would release Garcia. In response, Judge Xinis ruled that the government must provide her with daily updates on Garcia’s location and status, with efforts to return him to the U.S. However, this was not put into place, since the Supreme Court ruled that Xinis was exceeding her authority, and that district courts lacked the authority to make those demands. Currently, Trump’s administration still does not have a deadline for when Garcia should be freed, but it is clear that the court demands his return.
Although things looked promising at first, they quickly took a turn for the worse when El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele refused to return Garcia. Bukele declared that the question of returning Garcia was preposterous, and it would be the same as smuggling a terrorist into the U.S. President Trump expressed support for Bukele’s decision, sharing that he wanted to keep as many criminals as he could outside of the U.S., and saying that the assembled reporters would “love to have a criminal released.” Many other government officials refused the Supreme Court’s ruling. Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued that the foreign policy of the U.S. was managed by the President only, and that the court had no right to overstep and conduct the foreign policy of the country. Acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, Joseph Mazzara, agreed with the sentiment, sharing that the department did not have the authority to forcibly take Garcia back, and that the decision was up to El Salvador. This made the removal of Garcia from El Salvador illegal, and Top White House advisor Stephen Miller enforced that even if Bukele decided to return Garcia were to return, he would still be immediately deported back to El Salvador.
However, certain government officials disagreed. Senator Chris Hollen told reporters afterward that he thought the Trump administration’s position was unsustainable, and that they were “clearly just snubbing their nose at the courts, including the Supreme Court.” Hollen pushed for sanctions by the courts towards anyone who didn’t carry out their orders, believing that the administration had completely ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed with Hollen, calling the El Salvadorian President’s comments “pure nonsense.” Taking matters into his own hands, Hollen decided to embark on a three-day trip to El Salvador to press for Garcia’s release. There, Hollen met Garcia in person to speak with him, signaling to the administration that he was set on “protecting the constitutional rights of everybody.” Hollen then claimed that it had become “clear that the president, Trump administration, are blatantly, flagrantly disagreeing with, defying the order from the Supreme Court.” Next, he relayed what Garcia had told him, sharing Garcia’s comments about missing his family, which caused his wife, Jennifer Garcia, to begin to cry.
While the outcome of Garcia’s residency is uncertain, one thing is clear. This case has caused a rift in the White House, and Democrats insist that Trump is overstepping his executive authority and disrespecting the courts, while Republicans criticize the Democrats for defending a man the White House claims is a MS-13 gang member. The outcome of this case will determine the same for many other detainees who have been shipped to El Salvador, and define how much proof is required for somebody to be declared a gang member.
Written by Claire Liu
