BALTIMORE (RNS) — Before being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Monday morning (Aug. 25), Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man who became a national flashpoint after he was illegally deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, addressed a crowd gathered at ICE’s Baltimore field office in Spanish. Addressing other immigrants, he said, “God is with us, and God will never leave us.”
Abrego then added: “God will bring justice to all of the injustice that we are suffering.”
As he finished speaking, clergy from an array of religious traditions joined with U.S. Rep. Glen Ivey, of Maryland, to lay hands on Abrego, who bowed his head as the group prayed over him and a rabbi blew a shofar.
Abrego then slowly ascended the steps of the building to attend a required check-in with immigration authorities ahead of his upcoming trial on human smuggling charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. As he pushed through a throng of reporters and entered the revolving doors, the crowd chanted “Sí, se puede!” — “Yes, we can!”
Then, in view of photographers who pressed their cameras against the windows outside, Abrego huddled one last time with his family and closest supporters. As they stood quietly, they joined …