Kilmar Abrego Garcia's wife can be heard pleading for temporary protection from her illegal migrant husband, according to an audio recording obtained by USA Today.
In audio from a 2020 court hearing in Maryland, Jennifer Vasquez Sura pleaded with a judge for temporary protection from Abrego Garcia, who currently is in an El Salvador prison after being deported from the U.S., USA Today reported Friday.
Abrego Garcia "grabbed me from my hair, and then he slapped me," Vasquez Sura told the judge.
The Trump administration said it deported Abrego Garcia last month because he's a member of the MS-13 gang. Democrats and progressives, though, have used the El Salvador native to support their claims that President Donald Trump's immigration policies are illegal.
Administration officials admitted to a paperwork mistake before Abrego Garcia was deported, but added that the migrant quickly would be deported again if he were to return to the U.S.
Vasquez Sura has attempted to walk back her claims of domestic abuse by Abrego Garcia.
"Neither of us were in a good place at that time," Vasquez Sura told USA Today in a statement.
"My husband was traumatized from the time he spent in ICE detention and we were in the throes of COVID. Like many couples, we were caring for our children with barely enough to get by. All of those factors contributed to the actions which caused me to seek the protective order."
Earlier Friday, Tennessee Highway Patrol released bodycam video of Abrego Garcia being pulled over for speeding that appeared to support police impressions the illegal migrant was involved with human trafficking at the time.
When he was pulled over in November 2022, Abrego Garcia was in a vehicle with eight other people. Police asked him about the vehicle's dark windows, and whether he had added another row of seats, The National News Desk reported.
State troopers found Abrego Garcia, who admitted he had a suspended Maryland driver's license, with $1,400 in cash.
"You know what you got here, right?" one officer asked the person wearing the bodycam. "He's hauling these people for money is what he's doing.
"He's getting paid to haul these people, probably to Maryland, I would say. That's my guess."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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