Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is being blasted for using unproven claims to demonize a man who was already wrongfully deported once by the Trump administration and is now fighting yet another deportation battle.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father, was detained Monday when he showed up for what was supposed to be a routine check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Baltimore. Instead of a simple interview, he was taken into custody, blindsiding his lawyers and family.
In a statement that quickly raised eyebrows, Secretary Noem said ICE is once again “processing” Abrego Garcia for removal, this time to Uganda. In this country, he has no known ties. “President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator, to terrorize American citizens any longer,” Noem declared.
Abrego Garcia’s story has been a whirlwind of confusion, political theater, and legal chaos. Earlier this year, he was mistakenly deported to a brutal megaprison in El Salvador because of what officials later called an “administrative error.” The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to bring him back, and he returned to the U.S. in June. After being released from federal prison last Friday, he thought his ordeal was finally turning a corner. But just days later, ICE agents swept him up again.
BREAKING: In an insane moment, Trump confuses Governor Gretchen Whitmer with Kristi Noem, and refers to the Michigan Governor as “Kristi — uh, Kristi Whitman. Whitmer.”
The press keeps ignoring his cognitive loss. pic.twitter.com/hWEBVvcZuB
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) August 25, 2025
The problem? None of those explosive allegations has been proven. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to a migrant smuggling charge, which stems from a 2022 traffic stop that didn’t even result in charges at the time. He has not been charged with child abuse, and his lawyers insist he has no links to MS-13, the gang the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organization. His defense team argues the claims are based on disputed information from a questionable informant dating back to 2019.
“This is a campaign of retribution,” said his attorney Sean Hecker, who revealed the Trump administration offered Abrego Garcia a plea deal last week. Under the deal, he could plead guilty to human smuggling and be deported to Costa Rica. Abrego refused.
Today, ICE law enforcement arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia and are processing him for deportation.
President Trump is not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator to terrorize American citizens…
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) August 25, 2025
Outside the ICE office in Baltimore, another lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said ICE wouldn’t even tell them where their client was being sent. “Clearly, that was false,” he said after officials claimed Monday’s meeting was just for an interview. “In the last five minutes, Mr. Abrego Garcia has filed a new lawsuit in federal court challenging this confinement and challenging deportation to Uganda or anywhere else until he gets a fair trial.”
For Abrego Garcia, the nightmare feels endless. In a statement outside the detention center, delivered through a translator, he urged others not to lose hope. “To all of the families who have also suffered separations or who live under the constant threat of being separated, I want to tell you that even though this injustice is hurting us hard, we must not lose hope.”
With his legal team vowing to fight, and Costa Rica reportedly willing to take him in as a refugee, the battle over Abrego Garcia’s fate is far from over. But for now, Kristi Noem’s inflammatory remarks have only deepened the sense that this case is less about justice and more about political vengeance.
