Revealing the information about the protective order in a post, Andy Ngo said "The wife of deported suspected gang terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia either lied to the court when she petitioned for a domestic violence protective order against him or she is lying now on the GoFundMe claiming he is an excellent husband as over $162K has poured in." The case detail shows that it was brought by Vasquez against Garcia in May 2021 for domestic violence. The case has since been closed.
Per The Chesepeake Today, "Jennifer Vasquez filed for a protective order due to domestic violence from her husband on May 13, 2021, and a final order was issued on June 17, 2021, by Prince George’s County District Court Judge LaKeecia Allen. Judge Allen was elevated to the Circuit Court on Aug. 1, 2024, by Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Judge Allen previously served as a prosecutor in the Prince George’s State’s Attorney’s Office."
In a press conference, Vasquez said "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive." She spoke directly to Garcia, saying "stay strong. God has not forgotten about you." She said she was "pleading with the Trump administration and the Bukele administration to stop playing political games with the life of Kilmar." Their children, she said, miss their father. "I hope that the strength of faith and the resilience within us will keep us standing after all the punches we continue to receive. Our ability to fight back against these governments are testimonies to the fight and strength that God has given us."
Vasquez is quoted in the fundraiser, saying "Kilmar is an excellent father. He has always been there for our three children and all of their needs. Two of them are on the autism spectrum (ages five and nine), and our third has epilepsy (age 10). Kilmar has been the main provider of our household and the love of my life for over seven years. Since our family has been separated, I have been devastated and confused. I lost my life partner, my children lost their father, and all of our family, neighbors, co-workers, and friends have been devastated due to this unjust family separation."
The GoFundMe was organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. It notes that Garcia was a member of CASA, an advocacy group for "Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities." The fundraiser notes that "ICE is already trying to justify their actions by falsely labeling Kilmar a gang member—without any real evidence. But that's not who Kilmar is. He’s a father, a husband, and a hardworking union member."
In 2019, Garcia was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as he was standing outside a Maryland Home Depot trying to get work as a day laborer. At that time, an informant told police that Garcia was a member of notorious gang MS-13. A judge at that time said that the accusation "appears to be trustworthy and is supported," while Garcia's lawyers said it was false.
The judge denied bond for Garcia at that time because during bond hearings, Garcia "failed to meet his burden to show that he was not a danger." After that, Garcia was granted a withholding of removal, which meant that at the time, the Department of Homeland Security, under the first Trump administration, did not believe he was "a danger to the security of the United States."
The withholding of removal to his native El Salvador in 2019 was a protection given to Garcia because he had claimed that, when he was a minor in his home country, a gang had attempted to recruit him and extort his family. The recent deportation, per an admission from the Trump administration, overlooked that concern, calling it "an administrative error."
The Trump administration has said that since MS-13 was declared a terrorist organization, previous protections for members were no longer applicable. Critics say that Garcia's case would need to be reopened, his affiliation with the gang proven, before a deportation order could be enforced.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have adivsed that Garcia is a legal citizen of El Salvador. The Supreme Court has since ruled that the Trump administration could "facilitate" the return of Garcia to Maryland should El Salvador release him from the prison where he is incarcerated. Speaking at the White House on Monday, El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said that he would not be sending Garcia back to Maryland.
