A Maryland resident deported to El Salvador as a result of “an administrative error” was a member of the MS-13 gang, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was last known to be at a notorious prison in El Salvador known as CECOT. Leavitt said while his deportation may have been a clerical error, Abrego Garcia was a leader of the criminal gang.
“The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” Leavitt said. “We also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. This individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS-13 gang, which this president has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.”
Leavitt said reports that Abrego Garcia was a family man living a peaceful life are false.
“This individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation’s immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS-13 gang, and he is involved in human trafficking. And now MS-13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization,” Leavitt said.