I wasn’t planning to write again (yet) about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador despite an order protecting him from being sent there, but I continue to be frustrated by politicians from both parties (and their associated media outlets) telling only half the story and skewing the facts in one direction or the other.
Several readers have also reached out to me with questions in the past few days about Abrego Garcia, which gives me the sense that there’s a lot of ambient confusion about what to believe in this story. In fairness, there’s a lot that’s confusing about it: Was he a member of MS-13? Did he have legal status in the U.S.? Did the Supreme Court say he has to be returned? As it happens, none of these questions have easy “yes” or “no” answers.
Many liberals would have you believe that Abrego Garcia was a “Maryland man” who was living in the U.S. legally. Many conservatives would have you believe that he was a convicted member of MS-13. And both sides would tell you that the Supreme Court sided unanimously with them. All of those statements are exaggerations: they stem from some true fact, but don’t tell you the full story.
So today, I’d like to lay out the truth — as messy as it may be. There will be some facts here that may bolster the liberal side of the case. There will be some facts that bolster the conservative side. But they are all facts, plain and simple. At certain points, I will footnote places where public figures have made statements that contradict the truth. At the end, you can decide for yourself how to feel about Abrego Garcia and his case. If you know people who have been similarly confused by the dispute, feel free to send this primer their way.
Hellbound and Down 