In yet another incident in which former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton put her foot in her mouth, she took the side of Abrego Garcia, the illegal immigrant deported by the Trump Administration to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, and then the Trump DOJ dropped a bomb exposing his MS-13 ties.
As background, a great many Democrats have rallied to Garcia’s cause, claiming that he was a “Maryland man,” “father,” and “refugee” who shouldn’t have been deported. In reality, he is an illegal immigrant living in Maryland who appears to be an MS-13 gangster who beat his wife.
In any case, posting about the matter on X and taking Garcia’s side in the squabble, Hillary said, “Before the election, I warned that there is no safe haven under authoritarianism. If they can ship Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a foreign prison—accused of no crime, with no trial—they can do it to anyone. Americans of conscience must stand against this now.”
She turned off comments so that no one could respond, though quote-tweeters raked her over the coals and noted how terrible the optics of this are for Democrats. One such commenter said, “This whole fiasco won’t age well for Democrats. This guy had big MS13 connections and wasn’t even here legally.”
The counterfire from the Trump Administration was swift and severe as well. For example, Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin wrote, “1. When Garcia was arrested he was found with rolls of cash and drugs. 2. He was arrested with two other members of MS-13. 3. Two judges found that he was a member of MS-13. That finding has not been disturbed. 4. When arrested he was wearing what is effectively MS-13’s uniform.”
Similarly, the Homeland Security account on X posted, with legal papers showing Garcia’s history of violence, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding “Maryland Man” the media has portrayed him as. According to court filings, Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt, among other harm. This MS-13 gang member is not a sympathetic figure.”
His wife, Vasquez Sura, responded to those allegations in a statement to Newsweek. She said, “After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution following a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order, in case things escalated.”
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Continuing, she said, on the topic of the domestic violence allegations, “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”
Sura further said, “Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. But that is not a justification for ICE’s action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from removal. Kilmar has always been a loving partner and father, and I will continue to stand by him and demand justice for him.”