Common Ground: Many Call for Abrego Garcia's Return From El Salvador 

In an alleged administrative error, US resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The US government currently says it cannot rectify the situation due to legal complications and El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele said he has no plans to return Abrego Garcia in a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday.

The Details: Abrego Garcia, a non-permanent US resident with legal protected status residing in Baltimore, was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who reportedly informed him his “status has changed.” Despite having no criminal record and checking in with ICE regularly as part of his protected status, Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, and wasn't given a chance to challenge the decision. Writers across the political spectrum condemned the government's lack of action to return Abrego Garcia. 

From the Center and Left: In an editorial by the Houston Chronicle (Center bias) board, the board describes Abrego Garcia's situation as cruel and Kafkaesque—collateral damage in Trump's “mass-deportation crusade.” A Mother Jones (Left) piece adds that his case paves the way for an authoritarian state where legal citizens can be detained and deported for political disagreement. 

From the Right: A National Review (Right) editorial said, “Abrego Garcia is deportable, and should be deported, but a judge had ruled, in connection with 2019 proceedings over his time-barred asylum claim, that he couldn’t be sent to El Salvador,” calling the deportation an “obvious injustice.” The excuse that the government cannot bring him back because of the El Salvadorian government is “a ridiculous pretense because the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will clearly do anything we ask,” the editors added. 

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Editor's note: updated for clarity on Abrego Garcia's immigration status.