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Judge orders US to bring mistakenly deported Maryland man home

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Judge orders US to bring mistakenly deported Maryland man home


A federal judge said Friday the government must secure the return of a Prince George’s County, Maryland, man who Immigration and Customs Enforcement admitted it deported in error.

More than three weeks after Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained and flown to a notorious prison in El Salvador, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered that the government return him to the U.S. in about three days, by the end of the day Monday.

“We concede the facts. The plaintiff should not have been removed,” a Justice Department lawyer said Friday afternoon in court in Greenbelt.

Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported because of an “administrative error,” ICE admitted Monday. The Trump administration went on to accuse Abrego Garcia of being in the gang MS-13, which his family denies.

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Abrego Garcia’s wife, lawyers and supporters held a rally Friday morning to call for his release. “Bring Kilmar home,” their signs said.

“Kilmar, if you can hear me … I miss you so much … and I’m doing the best to fight for you and our children,” his wife, Jennifer, said.

A sudden detention and disappearance

Abrego Garcia had just finished his job as a sheet metal worker and was in the car with his young son when ICE pulled him over and detained him.

He was taken to Baltimore and questioned about his alleged ties to MS-13, his wife said in an affidavit. He was then transferred to Louisiana and La Villa, Texas.

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Three days after Abrego Garcia was detained, he was flown to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, ICE confirmed.

His wife spoke to him by phone when he was in the U.S. and tracked his location using ICE’s online detainee locator tool. But when he was flown out of the country, he vanished from the online system and she had no idea where he had been taken.

Finally, she recognized him in a video El Salvador’s president posted to X, showing men in white uniforms being frog-marched and having their heads shaved. In a photo of detainees, she recognized his tattoos.

The government said the order to send Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was an “oversight” and was done “in good faith.”

This week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s decision, claimed Abrego Garcia is a gang member and said he will not return to the U.S.

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One of his attorneys, Lucia Curiel, said Friday that he was accused of being in MS-13 in 2019 and was cleared. She spoke about the conversation she had with him then.

“I delivered the news to him that the judge had cleared him of the reckless, false gang allegations and granted him witholding of removal. I told him that that meant he could live in the U.S. legally, and that the government was prohibited from deporting him to El Salvador. I had never seen him smile so much. That news that I told him was true then and it is true now,” she said.

“The basis for that allegation in 2019 was a confidential informant, you know, one of these anonymous tips,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg previously said. “There was never any concrete evidence produced.”

Abrego Garcia has lived in the U.S. since 2011. He left El Salvador as he fled gang violence, including gang members who threatened to kill him in an attempt to extort his parents, Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

At the rally Friday morning, Abrego Garcia’s wife spoke about how much their three kids miss their dad. She said she found their 10-year-old daughter trying to send him messages on her tablet. The little girl said she wished she could trade places with him.

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Severn scratch-off makes player a millionaire as Maryland Lottery pays $31.8M in prizes

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Severn scratch-off makes player a millionaire as Maryland Lottery pays .8M in prizes


A scratch-off ticket sold in Severn turned one Maryland Lottery player into a millionaire, leading a week in which the Lottery paid out more than $31.8 million in prizes statewide.

Maryland Lottery and Gaming said it paid more than $31.8 million in prizes from Feb. 23 through March 1, including 36 tickets worth $10,000 or more.

The top scratch-off prize claimed during that period was a $1 million winning $1,000,000 Crossword ticket sold at the Walmart at 407 George Clauss Boulevard in Severn. Another top winner was a $100,000 Red 5’s Doubler ticket sold at the Carroll Motor Fuel station at 2535 Cleanleigh Drive in Parkville.

Other scratch-off prizes claimed Feb. 23 through March 1 included two $50,000 winners: a 200X the Cash ticket sold at the Wawa at 7501 Pulaski Highway in Rosedale, and a $5,000,000 Luxe ticket sold at the Spring Hill Lake Mini Market at 9240 Spring Hill Lane in Greenbelt. A $30,000 Diamond Bingo 6th Edition ticket was sold at Tempo Lounge at 402 Back River Neck Road in Essex.

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ALSO READ | SUN | Maryland GOP unveils energy plan it says saves customers up to $40 a month

The Lottery also reported three $20,000 scratch-off winners, all on $1,000,000 Crossword tickets sold at Geresbeck’s Food Market at 8489 Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena; Hillandale Beer and Wine at 10117 New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring; and Paddock Wine and Spirits at 7627 Woodbine Road in Woodbine.

The Lottery reminded players to sign the backs of tickets and keep winning tickets in a safe location.

The Lottery said the last dates to claim scratch-off tickets are posted on the scratch-offs page at mdlottery.com.

More information is available at mdlottery.com.

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SUN: Dozens of vehicles moved to planned Maryland ICE facility; advocates concerned

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SUN: Dozens of vehicles moved to planned Maryland ICE facility; advocates concerned


Advocacy groups are raising concerns over a warehouse in Washington County that is slated to become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility after dozens of black SUVs were moved to the warehouse’s parking lot on Sunday.

“When federal enforcement vehicles begin lining the warehouse lot, it sends a clear message about what’s taking shape in our community,” said the organizer of Hagerstown Rapid Response, Claire Connor. “We refuse to let ICE quietly plant roots in Washington County without transparency, accountability and community consent.”

The 825,620-square-foot warehouse is located at 16220 Wright Road in Williamsport. Access to the facility was blocked by orange traffic barriers and signs outlining regulations and “governing conduct on federal property” with the Department of Homeland Security emblem at the top of the page.

In late January, Washington County issued a news release stating that on Jan. 14, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to the county’s historic district commission and department of planning and zoning regarding the property.

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Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun’s website.



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Howard County police investigate fatal officer-involved shooting in Columbia

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Howard County police investigate fatal officer-involved shooting in Columbia


An adult man was killed in a police-involved shooting in Columbia early Sunday, prompting an investigation by the Maryland Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division.

Howard County police said officers were called on March 1, at about 12:09 a.m., to an apartment building in the 6400 block of Freetown Road for a report that involved an adult male threatening to harm himself.

According to police, at about 12:22 a.m., officers encountered the man outside the building. The man approached officers while holding a knife and ignored commands to drop the weapon, police said. Officers then shot the man.

ALSO READ | Gas leak explosion, fire in Prince George’s County leaves 1 injured

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Officers attempted life-saving measures, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officersrecovered a knife near the man.

No officers were injured, and the officers were equipped with body-worn cameras.

The Independent Investigations Division is investigating.

Anyone with information about this incident, including cell phone or private surveillance video, is asked to contact the IID at (410) 576–7070 or by email atIID@oag.maryland.gov.

The IID willgenerally releasethe name of the decedent and any involved officers within two business days of the incident, although that period may be extended, if necessary,pursuant toIID protocol.

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TheIID willgenerally releasebody-worn camera footage within 20 business days of an incident. There may be situations where more than 20 days is necessary, including if investigators need more time to complete witness interviews, if there are technical delays caused by the need to shield the identities of civilian witnesses, or to allow family members to view the video before it is released to the public.



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