As lawyers argue for Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release and return to the U.S. after his mistaken removal from Prince George's County, Maryland, in March, the Department of Homeland Security released documents showing his wife filed a protective order against him less than a year before she filed a different petition.
The documents DHS released Wednesday show Jennifer Vasquez Sura filed a petition for protection in August 2020. She wrote she called police after Abrego Garcia locked their kids in the basement and wouldn’t let her make food for them.
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WATCH HEREAfter she called 911 from her car, she tried to return to the house, but Abrego Garcia had locked all the doors, she said.
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SIGN UP After he let her in, she wrote that she saw someone outside walking and called for help.
When Abrego-Garcia heard, he grabbed her back inside and slapped her, according to the document.
Vasquez Sura also listed several previous occasions when she said she was physically injured, stretching back to November 2019.
A week later, Vasquez Sura filed a petition to rescind that protection order. But she never showed up for the hearing in September, according to the filings provided by Prince George’s County.
In a statement Thursday morning, one of Abrego Garcia's attorneys said: “If the government believes it has a strong case against him, they should bring him back and give him a full and fair trial in front of the same immigration judge who heard the case in 2019."
DHS’s release of the documents came as a judge in Greenbelt extended the deadline for the Trump administration to provide affidavits and evidence of what U.S. officials are doing to facilitate Abrego García's return. According to a court document reviewed by our sister station Telemundo 44, the administration has until May 14.
Abrego Garcia's family and lawyers have denied White House claims that he's a member of the gang MS-13, saying he has never been charged or convicted of any crime in the U.S. or El Salvador.
