In a federal court filing submitted Saturday, the U.S. Justice Department confirmed that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported last month, is alive and currently detained in a high-security prison in El Salvador. The acknowledgment follows mounting judicial scrutiny after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration of President Donald J. Trump must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return—but stopped short of mandating it.
The Supreme Court’s decision earlier this week came amid claims that Abrego Garcia’s deportation on March 15, 2025 violated a 2019 federal court order protecting him from removal due to credible fears of persecution in El Salvador. In the wake of that ruling, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis on Friday ordered the Justice Department to provide daily status updates on the administration’s efforts to comply.
Saturday’s filing, however, did not include any specific information on actions taken to secure Abrego Garcia’s return. Instead, it included a sworn declaration from a senior State Department official confirming his current detention.
Kozak Confirms Detention in El Salvador’s Terrorism Facility
In the declaration filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Michael G. Kozak, Senior Bureau Official in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, confirmed that Abrego Garcia is alive and being held in a prison operated by El Salvador’s government.
“It is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego Garcia is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. He is alive and secure in that facility. He is detained pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador,” Kozak stated in the signed declaration dated April 12, 2025.
Kozak, a member of the Senior Executive Service and career diplomat with over five decades of experience, affirmed that his statement was based on personal knowledge, reasonable inquiry, and information obtained from other State Department employees.
“I provide this declaration based on my personal knowledge, reasonable inquiry, and information obtained from other State Department employees,” he noted in the filing.
The declaration was submitted under penalty of perjury in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
Legal Battle Intensifies
The federal lawsuit—Civil Action No. 8:25-cv-00951-PX—seeks to compel the U.S. government to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. His legal team and human rights advocates argue that his deportation violated both U.S. immigration law and international obligations prohibiting the return of individuals to countries where they may face torture, persecution, or death.
With court-ordered daily updates now in effect and heightened public interest, the Trump administration faces increasing pressure to clarify how it plans to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Whether or not those efforts lead to Abrego Garcia’s return—and how soon—remains uncertain.
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