The saga of "Maryland man" Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, is not going away. More and more has been coming out about a traffic stop involving Abrego Garcia and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) from November 30, 2022. Although there were concerns that Abrego Garcia could have been involved in human smuggling, he was let go with a warning about his license. Now, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) is demanding more answers.
Earlier this month, body cam footage of that traffic stop was released in which patrol officers could be heard expressing their concerns about Abrego Garcia, specifically that he was "hauling these people for money." There were eight other men in the truck without luggage. Referencing that officer's concerns in a letter from last Friday, Green wrote to Colonel Matt Perry of THP requesting unredacted documentation of Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop and his release.
"Mr. Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle allegedly owned by Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, an illegal alien who pled guilty to smuggling illegal aliens into the United States in 2020," Green's letter also mentions, with more of those details about Hernandez Reyes' own statements about Abrego Garcia earning headlines last week as well.
Given what is known about Abrego Garcia, Green's letter goes on to reference concerns and thus the need for oversight:
The THP officers utilized federal law enforcement intelligence during their stop and investigation of Mr. Abrego Garcia. According to a Homeland Security Investigations CombinedIntelligence Unit (CIU) report, THP queried Mr. Abrego Garcia in the National Crime Information Center database following the traffic stop.6 The CIU report states that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a validated member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13), a transnational criminal organization. Additionally, the THP officers were reportedly in contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who allegedly advised THP to not detain Mr. Abrego Garcia. Despite Mr.Abrego Garcia’s traffic violations and the THP officers’ suspicions of human trafficking, the officers ultimately released Mr. Abrego Garcia. The Committee is concerned that inadequate or ineffective information sharing between federal agents and the THP officers during the BidenAdministration may have led to the release of an active gang member and potential human trafficker.
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Not only have there been concerns about Abrego Garcia and human trafficking, but also his gang affiliation. Last month, when Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was in El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released documentation showing that an informed pointed to Abrego Garcia as being a member of the gang, that his wife filed a protective order against him for domestic violence, and that Abrego Garcia himself admitted to coming into the country illegally. More has also since come out about concerns to do with domestic abuse against Abrego Garcia's wife.
NEW: @FoxNews has obtained the written domestic violence allegations from Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife in 2021, in which she alleges he is a repeat wife beater & writes “At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all… pic.twitter.com/s7yCji9jjq
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 16, 2025
The guy @ChrisVanHollen is trying to get back into the U.S. had a very long criminal record. A police gang unit confirmed his membership in MS-13 five years ago after he was arrested during a murder investigation. He admitted being in the U.S. illegally. Maryland’s “sanctuary”… https://t.co/BiSe6yArIX pic.twitter.com/zOhBpH0tNJ
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 16, 2025
Green is thus asking Colonel Perry for the following information before May 23:
1. An unredacted copy of all body camera and dash camera footage of the November 30,2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol;
2. Unredacted copies of all notes taken by any employee or contractor of the TennesseeHighway Patrol referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia;
3. Unredacted copies of all reports referring or relating to the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, including but not limited to,Computerized Dispatch Reports, incident reports, or probable cause reports;
4. A document sufficient to list all names of all Federal Bureau of Investigation employees or contractors and Tennessee Highway Patrol employees or contractors engaged in communications on November 30, 2022, to discuss the arrest, detention, or release of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia; and
5. A document sufficient to show the result of any query conducted by any employee or contractor of the Tennessee Highway Patrol in the National Crime Information Center database, of any person related to the November 20, 2022, traffic stop of Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from November 30, 2022 to December 1, 2022.
Van Hollen was not the only Democrat to have traveled to El Salvador to inquire about Abrego Garcia. Other Democrats, including in the House, went on such a trip as well. Last Thursday, Green wrote an op-ed published in The Daily Caller, "Why I Rejected The Dems’ Taxpayer-Funded Trip To Visit An Alleged Gangbanger."
It's not just top House Republicans who are opposed to letting Democrats travel to El Salvador on the taxpayer's dime. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reportedly asked his fellow Democrats to stop going.
"The contempt these members of Congress clearly have for taxpayers is palpable."@RepMarkGreen shares his reasoning in the @DailyCaller for rejecting House Dems' taxpayer-funded trip to visit alleged gangbanger & domestic abuser Kilmar Abrego Garcia 👇 https://t.co/wwVgAuvnmK
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) May 8, 2025
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