Deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife filed second protective order against him alleging abuse

Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who had been living in Maryland, was deported under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Although the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the administration to arrange his return, the Trump administration has argued it no longer has jurisdiction. El Salvador’s president has also refused to assist in facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return.

Democrats and activists had portrayed Abrego Garcia as a “Maryland dad” wrongfully deported. But newly uncovered documents reported by Fox News appear to contradict that narrative.

A 2020 protective order filed by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, in Maryland accused Abrego Garcia of both physical and mental abuse against her and her children. The form listed acts of violence, including slapping, shoving, kicking, mental injury to a child, and detaining someone against their will.

Vasquez asked for the petition to be rescinded on August 11, 2020, saying the family wanted to take part in their son’s birthday and that Abrego Garcia “also agreed to continue counseling and if not [he's] willing to sign divorce papers." However, the original petition form listed their son and Abrego Garcia’s stepchildren as in need of protection.

It detailed that in August of 2020, her "husband took [her] phone around 1:00 am, and in the morning he wanted to take my car, but I told him I was going to go out with my kids. He then got angry. I went upstairs to make food for my kids but he turned off the stove."

The form further claimed that Abrego Garcia threatened her, and that she had a recording where he "told [her] ex-mother-in-law that even if he kills me no one can do anything to him." It described an incident from November 2019 where he grabbed her “by the hair in the car” and in December 2019 he allegedly grabbed her hair in the car and "dragged" her “out of car leaving [her] in the street." She also wrote that he had broken her son’s tablet, broken doors in the house, broken a television, and damaged the walls that spring.

The revelation follows reports of written domestic violence allegations filed in court against Abrego Garcia by Vasquez in 2021, where the case was dismissed because she did not make a court appearance. In the filing, Vasquez alleged Abrego Garcia repeatedly beat her, saying, "At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me."

Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville, Maryland, in October 2019 and identified by the Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit as a member of MS-13. A federal immigration court in Baltimore also determined he was not eligible for release because he "failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13."