A small trove of unsealed court documents in the high-profile deportation case against alleged MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released Wednesday — after the Trump administration argued its unveiling posed a threat to national security.
The handful of filings, which offered few new details, were made public by US District Judge Paula Xinis after The Post and other outlets fought for access.
While the documents, some of which contained redactions, mostly outlined widely known information, they also provided some background on Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s heavily criticized trip to El Salvador to advocate for the illegal migrant’s release from the country’s notorious megaprison and return to the US.
Documents showed that El Salvador’s government contacted the US ambassador to the Central American nation on April 17 to arrange the meeting at the request of the Maryland Democrat.
The pair met later that day, with Van Hollen sharing photos of the Salvadoran migrant on social media.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, at the time, quipped on X that Abrego Garcia, who had been living in the Old Line State when he was deported, had “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ and ‘torture,’” and was “sipping margaritas” with the lawmaker in country’s “tropical paradise.”
Other documents revealed a Justice Department request for a one-week delay to disclose information to a Maryland court regarding efforts to facilitate the purported MS-13 member’s release from Salvadoran custody.
Abrego Garcia, 29, was shipped off with other reputed gang members to El Salvador’s hellhole lockup CECOT in March after President Trump invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.
He was transferred to a lower-security facility shortly after the infamous meet-up with Van Hollen, court filings showed.
The Supreme Court has since ordered the White House to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.
But the Trump administration has repeatedly defied those orders, arguing that they have no power to bring the husband and father-of-three back to the US – despite admitting he was booted from the country as a result of an administrative error.
Abrego Garcia’s deportation also went against a 2019 order blocking the feds’ ability to remove him to El Salvador on the grounds that he was at risk of retaliation from gangs.
Federal officials have defended Abrego Garcia’s deportation, citing his alleged role in MS-13’s “western clique,” and purported ties to human trafficking.
He was also previously accused of physically abusing his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a US citizen who has been fiercely pushing for his return.
