DHS official slams Kilmar Abrego Garcia for making TikToks amid court gag order

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official criticized Kilmar Abrego Garcia after a video circulated on social media showing him lip-syncing to a song on TikTok, as DHS remains under a court-ordered gag order related to his human smuggling case.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded on X to the video, which showed Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, accused by the Trump administration of having ties to the violent gang MS-13.

"So we, at [DHS], are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks," McLaughlin wrote. "American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system."

An Obama-appointed federal judge previously restricted DHS and other Trump administration officials from publicly discussing Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling case. His legal team has argued that public statements by government officials could undermine his right to a fair trial.

Abrego Garcia has become a focal point of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts. He was deported earlier this year to El Salvador, a move that violated a 2019 court order, an action the administration later acknowledged was an “administrative error.” He was subsequently returned to the United States and taken into custody on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop.

The Trump administration has continued to push for his deportation, accusing him of ties to MS-13, allegations Abrego Garcia has denied.

According to the Associated Press, a judge this week canceled Abrego Garcia’s trial and scheduled a hearing to review whether prosecutors pursued the human smuggling charges in a vindictive manner. On Monday, US District Judge Paula Xinis also extended a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from immediately detaining him again.