PINKY PROMISE

Defiant DHS Says Wrongly Deported Dad Will ‘Never Go Free’

The administration continues to insist that Kilmar Ábrego García is a dangerous criminal.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin says that the Trump administration has no plans to allow Kilmar Abrego Ábrego García—the 29-year-old father from Maryland whom the Trump administration deported in error in March—to walk free. The defiant statement came despite a federal judge tearing apart his prosecution and ordered his release in a courtroom humiliation for the administration, in particular White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien,” she posted on X Sunday. “We have said it for months and it remains true to this day: he will never go free on American soil.” Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes has ruled that Ábrego García must be released from custody as he awaits trial on federal human trafficking charges. He spent three months in El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison before being returned to the U.S. but was quickly arrested and charged with allegedly transporting undocumented migrants between Texas and Maryland. Holmes noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials could still take the father into custody after he is released, saying she expected ICE to do so after a bail hearing on Wednesday.