in March 2025, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legally residing Maryland father, was wrongfully deported to El Salvador despite a court order prohibiting his removal.

The deportation was later acknowledged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an “administrative error.”

Central to this error was the reliance on testimony from Officer Ivan Mendez, who had been previously suspended due to serious misconduct allegations.

The Maryland officer, Ivan Mendez of the Prince George’s County Police Department, was suspended and convicted for leaking confidential police information to a sex worker in 2020.

According to The New Republic, in 2019, Mendez filled out the “Gang Field Interview Sheet” that ICE later used to claim Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13 — citing, among other things, that he wore a Chicago Bulls hoodie and hat. ICE also claimed a confidential informant tied him to a New York gang clique despite Abrego Garcia never living there.

Abrego Garcia’s deportation has drawn significant attention, with federal judges and the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledging the illegality of his removal. Despite these rulings, he remains imprisoned in El Salvador’s maximum-security facility, CECOT, under conditions described by Judge Paula Xinis as “inhumane and dangerous.”

We call upon the Department of Justice and relevant oversight bodies to conduct a thorough investigation into the credibility of Officer Ivan Mendez’s evidence.

Justice for Kilmar Abrego Garcia and for all other who might have suffered from Ivan Mendez's actions.