Fundraiser Helps With Family Medical Costs After MD Father Wrongfully Deported

BELSTVILLE, MD — A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family of a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and his wife have three children with health challenges: Two are on the autism spectrum and a third has epilepsy.

National Day Laborer Organizing Network has organized the fundraiser on behalf of Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wife of Abrego Garcia, a resident of Beltsville and a citizen of El Salvador.

On March 12, Abrego Garcia was stopped by ICE officers after picking up his son from daycare. He was among hundreds of reputed gang members expelled from the United States on March 15 after President Donald Trump invoked a wartime authority that sped up mass deportations. But Abrego Garcia's family and attorneys said he has never been active in a gang and has no gang affiliations.

When he was pulled over, an ICE officer told Abrego Garcia that his "status had changed" before placing him in handcuffs and detaining him, according to court documents. Three days later, Abrego Garcia was taken to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, according to court documents.

His wife, Jennifer Stefania Vasquez Sura, and his 5-year-old child, both of whom are U.S. citizens, filed a lawsuit on March 24 calling for his return.

Vasquez Sura described her husband as "an excellent father."

"He has always been there for our three children and all of their needs. Two of them are on the autism spectrum (ages five and nine), and our third has epilepsy (age 10). Kilmar has been the main provider of our household and the love of my life for over seven years. Since our family has been separated, I have been devastated and confused. I lost my life partner, my children lost their father, and all of our family, neighbors, co-workers and friends have been devastated due to this unjust family separation," she wrote on the GoFundMe page.

The family is struggling emotionally and financially in his absence, the GoFundMe page said.

"Their youngest child has been having uncontrollable outbursts due to the distress of his father’s absence. To comfort himself, he searches for Kilmar's work clothes just to smell them. His daughter suffers from stress seizures, and has needed to carry emergency medicine. Jennifer can't afford to take time off to care for her children. She is now their sole provider. We're raising funds to support Kilmar’s family survive this unimaginable crisis. Your donation will help cover urgent living expenses and advocacy efforts to reunite Kilmar with his family," the GoFundMe shared.

As of Wednesday, more than $52,000 has been raised toward the goal of $60,000.

According to the lawsuit, Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador when he was 16 years old to escape gang violence. He was arrested in March 2019 while soliciting work outside a Home Depot, and he was later ordered deported after a confidential informant told police he was a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia appealed the claim and was eventually granted “withholding from removal” status in October 2019 by an immigration judge, according to court documents.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month due to an "administrative error," according to an Associated Press report. Despite his deportation, Abrego Garcia had been granted a withholding of removal in 2019, meaning he could not be removed from the United States.

The Trump administration then won a delay Monday in returning a Maryland man to the United States after it asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling to bring back the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last month due to an "administrative error," according to The New York Times.

Related:

• Judge Orders U.S. To Return MD Man Mistakenly Deported To El Salvador
• Supreme Court Delays Return Of MD Man Deported To El Salvador