DHS official criticizes Abrego Garcia for TikToks while agency faces gag order
The battle between the Department of Homeland Security and Kilmar Abrego Garcia rages on, dividing sides further. On Saturday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin complained about Abrego Garcia “making TikToks” while her department is constrained by a gag order.
McLaughlin views the government’s gag order as unfairly silencing officials, while Abrego Garcia is allowed to post on social media.
“So we, at [DHS], are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks,” McLaughlin wrote on X. “American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system.”
The Trump administration illegally deported Abrego Garcia in March, sending the Maryland man to an El Salvador megaprison, violating a court order meant to protect him from removal. Officials later described the Maryland resident’s deportation as an “administrative error.”
When officials returned Abrego Garcia to U.S. soil, he was then immediately put into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for smuggling charges related to a 2022 traffic stop, which some called retaliation by federal prosecutors.
On Dec. 11, a District of Maryland Federal Judge, Paula Xinis — an Obama appointee associated with the deportation violation — ordered his release from ICE custody.
After months of Trump and other officials saying things about Abrego Garcia and his deportation, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers requested a gag order.
A court order was issued by a federal judge out of Tennessee, Waverly Crenshaw. It restricts DHS and other administration officials from publicly talking about Abrego Garcia’s case, saying it could prejudice legal proceedings.
McLaughlin sees it differently.
Different narratives
There are at least two sides to every story, and in Abrego Garcia’s case, this is no exception.
McLaughlin appeared to be reacting to Abrego Garcia’s TikTok video, where he films himself lip-syncing to a song in Spanish. McLaughlin sees the gag order as unfairly allowing Abrego Garcia to control the narrative, while the government’s voice is muzzled.
More right-leaning outlets tend to focus on how the legal system is allowing defendants to post publicly, while the government — which they say is trying to enforce law and order — is being silenced by the legal system. The legal system enforced a double standard where the government couldn’t speak about the case while the defendant could.
Meanwhile, Democrats and more left-leaning outlets have rallied around Abrego Garcia. Some see McLaughlin’s tweet as polarizing, prejudicial or even dangerous.
The gag order, which pertains to the DHS and DOJ, prevents officials from making public statements that could cause prejudice in the pending case, which Mother Jones and other outlets say is already legally prevented in this jurisdiction.
“[T]his “gag order” isn’t specific to Abrego Garcia’s case,” Alex Nguyen wrote for Mother Jones. “As a Saturday court filing states, local criminal rule in the Middle District of Tennessee already blocks DOJ and DHS employees from making extrajudicial remarks that will ‘have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing’ a defendant’s right to a fair trial. In other words, it is not politically motivated.”
In August, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys asked Judge Crenshaw to issue a gag order to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Noem to stop talking about his case.
“Further intervention from the Court is necessary to protect Mr. Abrego’s right to a fair trial and the integrity of these proceedings,” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said. “The government’s ongoing barrage of prejudicial statements severely threaten — and perhaps have already irrevocably impaired — the ability to try this case at all — in any venue.”
Abrego Garcia’s hearing is scheduled for January, where it will be examined if prosecutors pursued the human smuggling charges for vindictive reasons. The judge has since narrowed the gag order after the prosecutors said the order pertained to all 300,000 employees at the Department of Homeland Security.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
