In March 2019, an immigration judge denied a bond request from Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, writing that the determination he is a gang member "appears to be trustworthy and is supported by other evidence in the record," citing a police department’s gang interview field sheet. The decision was upheld on appeal.
Two federal judges have since ruled the government’s information about Abrego Garcia’s gang membership was unsupported. It was based on clothing Abrego Garcia wore at the time of his 2019 arrest and information from what a since-fired police officer called a confidential source.
In October 2019, a judge granted Abrego Garcia protection from deportation to El Salvador. The Trump administration said in a March court filing that it deported him to that country in error.