Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has refused to acknowledge whether a photograph presented by Donald Trump depicting alleged gang tattoos on Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s knuckles was doctored.
The image Trump posted from behind his desk in the Oval Office shows a close-up image of the wrongfully deported Salvadoran father’s hand with the letters “MS-13” clearly superimposed above tattoos on his hand.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that he believes the letters are actually tattooed on Abrego Garcia, who the administration is refusing to get out of El Salvador’s jails despite court orders to “facilitate” his return.
In a lengthy back-and-forth during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, presenting a blown-up image of Trump’s photo, repeatedly asked Noem if the image is “doctored or not doctored.”
“Madame Secretary, I have a seven year old, a six year old, and a three year old. I have a bulls**** detector. I’m just asking you, is this doctored or not doctored?”
“I don’t have any knowledge as to that photo you’re pointing to,” Noem said. “What is your point?”
Noem did not answer the question but repeated accusations that Abrego Garcia — who the Trump administration admitted in court documents was removed from the country due to an “administrative error,” which the Supreme Court said was “illegal” — was a criminal.
“It’s been hanging out there for four weeks,” Swalwell said. “You are one of the chief law enforcement officials in the country. What have you done to investigate whether the president misrepresented the reason why that person has been detained? Have you done anything to figure out whether that was doctored or not?”
Noem — who heard questions from lawmakers about her agency’s budget proposals — replied that the mission of her department is “to secure our nation, and to make sure we’re out there going after those that are the worst of the worst.”
“The criminals, the bad actors. Abrego Garcia is a known terrorist, a member of MS-13, a wife beater and known trafficker who should never have been in this country to begin with,” she said.
While administration officials raise allegations of criminality against Abrego Garcia in public, the claims are largely nowhere in court documents in a high-profile legal battle for his return.
A federal judge presiding over the case ordered the Department of Justice to provide the legal and factual basis for invoking a state secrets privilege to avoid answering questions about what steps, if any, they have taken to secure his release.
The 29-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who was living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife and child, along with two other children from a previous relationship, has been locked up in his home country for more than a month.
Administration officials have pointed to his tattoos as evidence of alleged ties to MS-13, which his family and attorneys flatly reject.
House Democrats on the committee also pressed Noem for more information about Andry Jose Hernandez Romero, a gay Venezuelan man who was deported to El Salvador’s brutal Terrorism Confinement Center with dozens of other Venezuelan immigrants removed from the country under Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act on March 15.
“Listen to me: he had no criminal record,” Rep. Seth Magaziner said. “He did not even enter the country illegally. … The only evidence your department has presented to justify his imprisonment is that he had two tattoos, one that said ‘mom’ and one that said ‘dad.’ Do you have any other evidence to present for why this individual should be locked up in El Salvador?”
Noem said “every case has used the same protocols,” including “who they’re affiliated with, their communication, who they’re spending time with.”
Attorneys and family for Hernandez Romero — who is now the lead plaintiff in an amended lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union against the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport alleged Tren de Aragua gang members — have denied he has anything to do with the gang.
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia asked whether Noem’s office could request a “proof of life” check for Hernandez Romero, “just to see if he’s alive.”
“His mother just wants to know if he’s alive. Can we just do a wellness check on him?” he said.
Noem said she doesn’t know “the specifics of the individual case.”
“I think it is shameful that you won’t even request to see if this young man is alive,” Garcia said.
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