section_path: Background/Kilmar Abrego Garcia/2019 detention and bond hearings
section_name: 2019 detention and bond hearings
paragraph_text: 2019 detention and bond hearings
  
  In March 2019, Abrego Garcia and three other men were stopped for loitering in Hyattsville, Maryland, in the parking lot of a Home Depot store where, his lawyers say, they were seeking work as day laborers. A Hyattsville Police Department (HPD) incident report, which names the other men but not Abrego Garcia, said that an officer "approached them because he saw members of the group 'stashing something underneath a car'". The HPD incident report does not mention any suspicion of gang membership, but Ivan Mendez, a detective with the Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) gang unit, said that the HPD officer contacted the gang unit because the officer recognized another of the men as a member of the MS-13 Sailors clique. MS-13 began in immigrant communities in Los Angeles and has ties to several Central and South American countries, and is a rival of Barrio 18. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has described MS-13 cliques as "smaller groups operating in a specific city or region". Several PGPD detectives with the gang unit interviewed the four men, and said they "had reasonable suspicion, based upon their training and experience" that Abrego Garcia and two of the other men "displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture", for which police cited tattoos, clothing, and "information from a source". None of the men were charged with any crime, and Abrego Garcia denied any connection to MS-13.
  
  Mendez was suspended from the PGPD in April 2019 for "misconduct in office" unrelated to the incident with Abrego Garcia, and was terminated in December 2022, after pleading guilty to misconduct and accepting the department's proposal of his termination. Court documents alleged that Mendez gave "confidential and sensitive information about an ongoing police investigation with a commercial sex worker", and in 2021, the local prosecutor's office included Mendez in a "do not call" list for officers judged to be unreliable.
  
  The PGPD transferred custody of Abrego Garcia to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to initiate deportation proceedings, and the police department later said that it had no further interactions with him after the 2019 stop. The PGPD and ICE paperwork for Abrego Garcia included some inconsistencies, with the PGPD stating that he was picked up for loitering, and ICE stating that he was picked up in connection with a murder investigation. In addition, the ICE paperwork stated both that "Abrego-Garcia is not claiming fear of returning to his country" and that "Abrego-Garcia is claiming fear of returning to his home country of El Salvador." The government did not subsequently allege any connection to a murder investigation.
  
  In the legal proceedings, the US government stated Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 because "he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations" when arrested, and alleged that such clothes are "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture". MS-13 had previously adopted the Chicago Bulls logo as a gang symbol. Vasquez Sura later said that the sweatshirt was a gift from her to Abrego Garcia, bought from Fashion Nova "because she liked the design", and The New York Times described that design as having images of "rolls of money and the face of Benjamin Franklin — not presidents, as the police report said". The Washington Post said the images were "Franklin's face as printed on the $100 bill" with "green bands covering the eyes, ears and mouth".
  
  Officials also said they spoke to a "past and proven reliable confidential source" who "advised" them that Abrego Garcia was an active gang member with the moniker "Chele". The government said the informant alleged that Abrego Garcia was active with MS-13's Western clique, which, according to his immigration lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, is based in New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. Sandoval-Moshenberg cited the DOJ and the Suffolk County district attorney's office regarding the Western clique's location. In contrast, Mia Cathell of the Washington Examiner noted that Prince George's County, where Abrego Garcia lived, is in the greater Washington, DC, area, and she cited a 2011 DOJ indictment that said six MS-13 cliques operated in that area in 2011: Fultons, Normandy, Peajes, Sailors, Uniones, and Western. The informant also said Abrego Garcia held the MS-13 rank of chequeo; according to MS-13 author Steven Dudley, chequeo is not a rank within MS-13 but refers to yet-to-be-initiated recruits.
  
  Abrego Garcia requested a bond hearing, which the American Bar Association describes as "typically informal affairs, not substitutes for trial or even for discovery. Often the opposing parties simply describe to the judicial officer the nature of their evidence; they do not actually produce it." Elizabeth Kessler, the immigration judge who presided over the bond hearing, noted that some information provided by ICE and the PGPD appeared to be "at odds with" each other, but determined the informant's claim was sufficient evidence in support of his gang membership to deny Abrego Garcia's request for bond, and to hold him pending a full review. On appeal, a second judge upheld that ruling, finding that the claim was not clearly wrong. As a bond hearing decision, this was not a determination that he was a gang member, but instead limited to whether to release him from custody.
  
  Vasquez Sura said the government had "absolutely no evidence" and "Kilmar is not and has never been a gang member". Abrego Garcia had never been charged with a crime, and The Washington Post reported that no court ever made a "full adjudication" of whether he was indeed a gang member.
  
  In Abrego Garcia's hearing, neither the PGPD officers nor the confidential informant were cross-examined. Standards of evidence in US immigration hearings are lower than in trials: the government's claims are assumed to be true, while the burden of proof rests with the defendant. Additionally, "Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien" forms—which consist largely of hearsay and are thus inadmissible in other proceedings—are admissible in immigration courts and are considered "inherently trustworthy".
  
  In March 2019, Abrego Garcia and three other men were stopped for loitering in Hyattsville, Maryland, in the parking lot of a Home Depot store where, his lawyers say, they were seeking work as day laborers. A Hyattsville Police Department (HPD) incident report, which names the other men but not Abrego Garcia, said that an officer "approached them because he saw members of the group 'stashing something underneath a car'". The HPD incident report does not mention any suspicion of gang membership, but Ivan Mendez, a detective with the Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD) gang unit, said that the HPD officer contacted the gang unit because the officer recognized another of the men as a member of the MS-13 Sailors clique. MS-13 began in immigrant communities in Los Angeles and has ties to several Central and South American countries, and is a rival of Barrio 18. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has described MS-13 cliques as "smaller groups operating in a specific city or region". Several PGPD detectives with the gang unit interviewed the four men, and said they "had reasonable suspicion, based upon their training and experience" that Abrego Garcia and two of the other men "displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture", for which police cited tattoos, clothing, and "information from a source". None of the men were charged with any crime, and Abrego Garcia denied any connection to MS-13.
  
  Mendez was suspended from the PGPD in April 2019 for "misconduct in office" unrelated to the incident with Abrego Garcia, and was terminated in December 2022, after pleading guilty to misconduct and accepting the department's proposal of his termination. Court documents alleged that Mendez gave "confidential and sensitive information about an ongoing police investigation with a commercial sex worker", and in 2021, the local prosecutor's office included Mendez in a "do not call" list for officers judged to be unreliable.
  
  The PGPD transferred custody of Abrego Garcia to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to initiate deportation proceedings, and the police department later said that it had no further interactions with him after the 2019 stop. The PGPD and ICE paperwork for Abrego Garcia included some inconsistencies, with the PGPD stating that he was picked up for loitering, and ICE stating that he was picked up in connection with a murder investigation. In addition, the ICE paperwork stated both that "Abrego-Garcia is not claiming fear of returning to his country" and that "Abrego-Garcia is claiming fear of returning to his home country of El Salvador." The government did not subsequently allege any connection to a murder investigation.
  
  In the legal proceedings, the US government stated Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 because "he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations" when arrested, and alleged that such clothes are "indicative of the Hispanic gang culture". MS-13 had previously adopted the Chicago Bulls logo as a gang symbol. Vasquez Sura later said that the sweatshirt was a gift from her to Abrego Garcia, bought from Fashion Nova "because she liked the design", and The New York Times described that design as having images of "rolls of money and the face of Benjamin Franklin — not presidents, as the police report said". The Washington Post said the images were "Franklin's face as printed on the $100 bill" with "green bands covering the eyes, ears and mouth".
  
  Officials also said they spoke to a "past and proven reliable confidential source" who "advised" them that Abrego Garcia was an active gang member with the moniker "Chele". The government said the informant alleged that Abrego Garcia was active with MS-13's Western clique, which, according to his immigration lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, is based in New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. Sandoval-Moshenberg cited the DOJ and the Suffolk County district attorney's office regarding the Western clique's location. In contrast, Mia Cathell of the Washington Examiner noted that Prince George's County, where Abrego Garcia lived, is in the greater Washington, DC, area, and she cited a 2011 DOJ indictment that said six MS-13 cliques operated in that area in 2011: Fultons, Normandy, Peajes, Sailors, Uniones, and Western. The informant also said Abrego Garcia held the MS-13 rank of chequeo; according to MS-13 author Steven Dudley, chequeo is not a rank within MS-13 but refers to yet-to-be-initiated recruits.
  
  Abrego Garcia requested a bond hearing, which the American Bar Association describes as "typically informal affairs, not substitutes for trial or even for discovery. Often the opposing parties simply describe to the judicial officer the nature of their evidence; they do not actually produce it." Elizabeth Kessler, the immigration judge who presided over the bond hearing, noted that some information provided by ICE and the PGPD appeared to be "at odds with" each other, but determined the informant's claim was sufficient evidence in support of his gang membership to deny Abrego Garcia's request for bond, and to hold him pending a full review. On appeal, a second judge upheld that ruling, finding that the claim was not clearly wrong. As a bond hearing decision, this was not a determination that he was a gang member, but instead limited to whether to release him from custody.
  
  Vasquez Sura said the government had "absolutely no evidence" and "Kilmar is not and has never been a gang member". Abrego Garcia had never been charged with a crime, and The Washington Post reported that no court ever made a "full adjudication" of whether he was indeed a gang member.
  
  In Abrego Garcia's hearing, neither the PGPD officers nor the confidential informant were cross-examined. Standards of evidence in US immigration hearings are lower than in trials: the government's claims are assumed to be true, while the burden of proof rests with the defendant. Additionally, "Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien" forms—which consist largely of hearsay and are thus inadmissible in other proceedings—are admissible in immigration courts and are considered "inherently trustworthy".