JD Vance’s new social media post is not being received well by people. The Trump administration is well known for its aggressive deportation and border policies. Kilmar Amrado Abrego-Garcia is just one of the countless victims of exactly that. JD Vance is now under fire for accusing Garcia of being an MS-13 gang member.
Kilmar Amrado Abrego-Garcia was granted protected legal status by the US government in 2019. The El Salvadoran national had to flee his country as a minor after a gang tried to recruit him. He even received death threats when he denied the offer from the gang.
Abrego-Garcia was interrogated by law enforcement at a Home Depot in 2019. He had denied knowing anything when asked if he had any information about gang members. One of the several men being interviewed with him accused Abrego-Garcia of being a member.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, who is Abrego-Gracia’s attorney, revealed that he had “never been convicted of any crime, gang-related or otherwise” before his deportation.
JD Vance took it upon himself to declare Abrego-Gracia a gang member in a recent X (formerly known as Twitter) post. The post came as a reply to Jon Favreau’s post on the platform.
Favreau, who has served as Barack Obama’s speechwriter, accused the Trump administration of “accidentally sending an innocent father from Maryland to a torture dungeon in El Salvador.”
If the Trump administration had evidence he was a gang member, they would’ve presented it
More likely that @PressSec, @TriciaOhio, and @JDVance are just liars https://t.co/gYNxE5x2dt
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 2, 2025
The Vice President took to X to label Abrego-Garcia as an “MS-13 gang member,” referring to the Home Depot incident from 2019. “According to the court document you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here,” Vanve wrote.
The Republican also went on to note how “gross” it was to “get fired up” about gang members being deported while “ignoring citizens they victimize.” Vance is not the only representative of the Trump administration to make these claims.
Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also addressed the matter in a press conference. She told the press that it was a “fact” that Abrego-Garcia was “a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang.” Leavitt also went on to accuse him of partaking in human trafficking without presenting any evidence to support the claims.
Like spokespeople for all fascist authoritarian regimes, Karoline Leavitt’s job is to cover up the crimes of her Dear Leader by habitually lying.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is not a convicted member of MS-13. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/m9hu5Xnb66
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) April 1, 2025
Following Abrego-Gracia’s deportation, ICE field office director Robert Cerna labelled it as “an error.” Cerna noted that Garcia was “not on the initial manifest of the … flight to be removed to El Salvador.” He added, “But rather, he was an alternate”.
The ICE field office director went on to call the incident an “administrative error” and an “oversight.”Cerna also noted how the deportation was carried out in “good faith.” He concluded, “This removal was an error.”
The official files related to the case also point to how the government is unable to bring Garcia back to America because they no longer have his custody. Abrego-Garcia stands to be one case of aggressive deportation among the several that have surfaced in the past few weeks.
Another similar incident occurred with two brothers from Venezuela who are Chicago residents. NBC News reported how one of the brothers needed a kidney transplant. The second brother, who had agreed to be a donor, was detained by ICE agents. Residents of Chicago are now rallying in support to stand up against his impending deportation.
