DHS Releases Report Showing Kilmar Abrego Garcia Suspected in Trafficking Incident

A recent investigative referral from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has renewed scrutiny on Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and validated MS-13 gang member, whose deportation from the U.S. and subsequent detention in El Salvador has sparked political controversy. Abrego Garcia is currently imprisoned in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a high-security facility designed to hold gang members. His deportation has drawn the attention of U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who traveled to El Salvador in an initially unsuccessful attempt to meet with him.

The HSI report centers around a traffic stop on December 1, 2022, during which Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled over a vehicle driven by Abrego Garcia. Officers found eight other individuals in the vehicle, none of whom carried luggage, despite what Abrego Garcia described as a multi-day journey from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Maryland. All occupants listed the same home address, and Abrego Garcia, speaking evasively, claimed they were construction workers. The officer issued only a warning for an expired Maryland “Limited Term Temporary” license and did not pursue further investigation into the passengers’ identities.

Records show that Abrego Garcia was previously validated as a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang by the Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit in 2019. He had been granted a withholding of removal by an immigration judge the same year, which barred deportation to El Salvador due to risk of harm, but did not provide legal status. Immigration agents nevertheless arrested him in March 2025, and he was later deported in what the Trump White House acknowledged as an administrative error. The Salvadoran government subsequently placed him in CECOT.

Senator Van Hollen, who has called Abrego Garcia’s deportation an “abduction,” visited El Salvador this week to advocate for the detained migrant. Although he met with Vice President Félix Ulloa, his request to visit Abrego Garcia in prison was initially denied, though eventually granted. The senator claimed that Abrego Garcia was legally residing in the U.S., referencing his work permit and protection from deportation. While Van Hollen has met with Abrego Garcia’s family, his absence in other immigration-related tragedies has drawn criticism, including from Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, who was murdered by an illegal migrant from El Salvador. Morin publicly criticized the senator for not contacting her family following her daughter’s death.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from the Department of Homeland Security Investigative Referral Report and previous coverage. Documents provided by DHS are included below.

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