It’s been 36 days since the Trump administration illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Maryland worker and father—to a brutal prison in El Salvador notorious for its human rights abuses.

At least three courts—including the Supreme Court—have ordered his return.

Yet the Trump regime continues to defy those orders, offering excuses that are ever-changing—and increasingly dishonest.

In this NOTICE News+ Deep Dive, we’ll break down the 5 biggest lies Republicans are telling to justify Kilmar’s deportation:

1. Is Kilmar a member of MS-13?

2. Does he have gang tattoos?

3. Has he abused his wife?

4. Is he a human trafficker?

5. Is he a terrorist?

And we’ll examine why none of this really matters—and what actually does.

📓 Background: Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?

According to court documents, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was born in July 1995 in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.

• In the 1990s and early 2000s, El Salvador was one of the most dangerous places on Earth—its society shredded by neoliberalism and a CIA-backed civil war that left 75,000 dead.

The war ended in 1992—but what followed was nearly as brutal: a violent gang culture born from war, poverty, and U.S. deportation policy.

This was the world that Kilmar was born into.

SUCCESS BUT AT A COST: As Kilmar grew up, he helped his family run a business making pupusas, a beloved Salvadoran dish.

• But that success made them a target. A local gang—Barrio 18, a rival of MS-13 (the gang Trump falsely claims Kilmar belongs to)—began extorting the family.

They demanded protection money. When the family couldn’t pay, the gang threatened to recruit Kilmar’s older brother, César—or kill him.

• The family paid the money but, fearing for his safety, sent César to the United States.

With César gone, the gang turned its attention to Kilmar.

THE AMERICAN DREAM: When Kilmar was 16, his family made another desperate decision—they sent him to the United States, just like his brother.

• In March 2012, he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas, according to the Justice Department.

He made his way to Baltimore, Maryland, where his brother—who had since become a U.S. citizen—lived. Kilmar began to build his own life, an American success story.

• In 2016, Kilmar met Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a U.S. citizen who would later become his wife.

Together, they raised three children: one born to the couple, and two from Jennifer’s previous relationship—all of whom have special needs.

• By all reports, Kilmar lived a quiet life in Maryland with his family. He was never convicted of any crime—neither in the U.S. nor in El Salvador.

All of this led up to 2019, when Kilmar was arrested on dubious charges that would later become the foundation for Trump’s lies.

1. Is Kilmar a member of MS-13?

No. There is no evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was ever a member of MS-13—or any other gang for that matter.

• Not only has he never been convicted of a crime, he’s never even been charged with one here or in El Salvador.

Despite this, Trump’s DOJ is now claiming Kilmar is part of MS-13, one of the most violent gangs in the world—based on a bogus 2019 arrest in a Home Depot parking lot and racist tropes.

WHAT HAPPENED: In March 2019, local Maryland cops—with apparently nothing else to do but target poor migrant workers—arrested Kilmar and two others in a Home Depot parking lot on loitering charges. The three were day laborers looking for work.

• The cops made the (racist) “determination” that Kilmar and the two others were gang members based on what they were wearing—a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie.

Local police also said they had a confidential “source” that identified Kilmar as a gang member, despite the fact that “source” claimed Kilmar had a rank in the gang that doesn’t exist—in a gang that was hundreds of miles away in New York City.

• The cops then turned Kilmar over to ICE to begin deportation proceedings.

It was during those deportation proceedings two judges denied Kilmar’s request to be released on bond, saying he would need to challenge the gang allegations in court.

• As you may know—like I do from watching too much Law & Order—the burden of proof for bond hearings is much lower, and denying bond does not mean that a judge said Kilmar was actually a gang member.

Nevertheless, those bond rulings are why Trump and his goons, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, are saying two judges ruled that Kilmar was a member of MS-13. That’s an outright lie.

ALLOWED TO STAY: While he was in detention, Kilmar married his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, while separated through glass.

• Kilmar also applied for asylum, claiming he would be targeted for violence by the gang Barrio 18, the gang he had originally fled from when he came to the U.S. in 2011.

A different judge found those allegations credible and granted him a "withholding of removal" order, which prohibited the U.S. government from sending him back to El Salvador and gave him legal permission to work here.

• But because he was granted permission to stay, a court never formally ruled on the flimsy, racist gang allegations made by local cops.

At the time, ICE declined to appeal the order, and Kilmar has had yearly check-ins with ICE that he has never missed.

2. Does he have gang tattoos?

Local cops never had real evidence Kilmar was in MS-13—so Trump rolled out a racist trope to convict Kilmar in the court of public opinion: his tattoos.

BACKGROUND: On Friday, a desperate Trump tweeted a photo of himself (of course) holding up a photo that purports to show tattoos on Kilmar’s knuckles.

• The tattoos—which are unverified but seem to be legit—show a marijuana leaf on one finger, a smiley face on another, a cross on a third, and a skull on the pinky.

Trump claims these secretly mean “MS-13”—despite the fact that actual MS-13 members are known to tattoo MS-13 all over their bodies without the need for a special code.

VERDICT: The tattoos appear to be legit (they match a photo of Kilmar meeting recently with Sen. Chris Van Hollen), but the idea that they’re gang tattoos is tenuous at best.

• In fact, an ICE source told the ultra-conservative New York Post that while Kilmar—if he were a gang member—would be required to get an identifying tattoo to be a part of MS-13, but they had “never heard of those resemblances being made.”

So yes, Kilmar has tattoos, but no—a Latino person having a tattoo does not make it a gang tattoo. Imagine that. Trump is lying.

3. Has he abused his wife?

In the same tweet about the tattoos, Trump said Kilmar “beat up his wife.”

THE FACTS: In 2021, Kilmar’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, did file a protective order alleging he had physically harmed her on multiple occasions.

• But when the hearing date arrived, she didn’t appear, and the case was dismissed.

After the Department of Homeland Security posted about the allegations on social media (your tax dollars hard at work) Jennifer was forced to make a statement:

Since then, Jennifer has stood by Kilmar. The protective order never led to any charges or convictions.

• But that hasn’t stopped Trump from weaponizing the allegation—stripping it of context, flattening the complexity, and turning it into another talking point.

Even if the allegation were true—which no court has found—it wouldn’t justify deportation, especially after another court explicitly ruled Kilmar should be allowed to stay.

4. Is he a human trafficker?

On Friday, “Homeland Security” threw out another outrageous allegation against Kilmar that was based on a bogus police encounter.

• Complete with a BuzzFeed-style headline, DHS proudly released a “bombshell investigative report” (their words, we kid you not) on a suspected human trafficking incident involving Kilmar.

Again, the incident in question did not lead to any criminal charges and was likely based on a racist police encounter with local cops.

WHAT HAPPENED: In 2022, Kilmar was driving on I-40 in Tennessee when he was pulled over by state police for speeding and drifting out of his lane.

• He told officers he and the eight passengers in the van were headed to a construction job.

But since no one had luggage, the trooper grew suspicious and suggested it might be a case of human trafficking.

• That suspicion was never backed by any evidence. The only issue the officer confirmed was that Kilmar’s license was expired—and flagged by a database due to that old, unproven gang allegation.

ICE was contacted, but they declined to take him into custody. No one was arrested. No charges were ever filed. But now, DHS is dusting off this years-old stop to justify an illegal deportation.

YES, AND: If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Routine traffic stops like this are often where law enforcement targets people of color.

• Data shows that in the U.S., Black and Latino drivers are more likely to be pulled over, searched, and questioned—even when they’ve done nothing wrong.

5. Is he a terrorist?

This is probably the most outrageous and racist lie against Kilmar. No, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not a terrorist.

BACKGROUND: As we reported earlier this week, in a shameful Oval Office meeting with Trump, El Salvador’s dictator Nayib Bukele said he wasn’t going to return Kilmar and specifically called him a terrorist.

• He said: “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?”

There is zero evidence—none—that Kilmar is a terrorist. No charges. No criminal record. No links to any terrorist group.

BUT BUT BUT: Because Trump has designated MS-13 a terrorist organization in an effort to deport migrants without due process, it’s given them license to call anyone they associate with MS-13 a “terrorist.”

• But as we’ve shown above, there is no evidence Kilmar was ever a member of MS-13.

This is another dangerous racist trope often used by rich white people in power to demonize outsiders and maintain control.

• It’s part of a long tradition in U.S. politics: labeling people of color, immigrants, and the marginalized as “terrorists” to justify illegal, violent, or authoritarian actions against them.

Typically, the U.S. reserves this tactic for places like Vietnam, Iraq, or Palestine. But now, it's happening here at home.

⚖ Why none of this matters

Upgrade to NOTICE News+ to read the rest.