The Story of the 'Mistakenly Deported Maryland Man'

[mahatmakanejeeves]

CASA, via Associated Press

The Story of the ‘Mistakenly Deported Maryland Man’

Kilmar Abrego Garcia lived a turbulent life in Maryland after fleeing El Salvador as a teenager. Now he’s the face of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

By Juliet Macur, Jazmine Ulloa, Annie Correal, Kirsten Noyes, Alan Feuer and Dan Barry
Juliet Macur, Jazmine Ulloa and Dan Barry reported from Prince George’s County in Maryland; Annie Correal from San Salvador; and Kirsten Noyes and Alan Feuer from New York City.

May 2, 2025
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Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, all of 16, called his older brother in distant Maryland with startling news. He had made it to the Texas border. He had escaped.

In his family’s telling, this is how his American journey began. They say that for years in El Salvador, a gang called Barrio 18 had terrorized them, extorting money from the mother’s small tortilla and pupusa business, threatening to leave them all dead in a ditch — and targeting young Kilmar, in and out of school, with increasing menace.

“‘They will appear in black bags,’” his mother said through tears, recalling phone messages from the gang. “Those were the words they would say.”

Seeing a dim future, the teenager had slipped away to follow the worn, treacherous path known to so many other migrants before him, including his older brother. North, across desert and river, into Mexico, and then into the United States.

{snip}

Juliet Macur is a national reporter at The Times, based in Washington, D.C., who often writes about America through the lens of sports.

Jazmine Ulloa is a national reporter covering immigration for The Times.

Annie Correal reports from the U.S. and Latin America for The Times.

Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.

Dan Barry is a longtime reporter and columnist, having written both the “This Land” and “About New York” columns. The author of several books, he writes on myriad topics, including New York City, sports, culture and the nation.

[Walleye]

1. To AP and other news outlets. This is not a "immigration crackdown" it's illegally deporting people to foreign prisons