Dems' favorite MS-13 associate ran human trafficking operations, says ex-boss
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.), and Maxine Dexter (Ore.) are among the Democratic lawmakers who decided to champion the cause of MS-13 associate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national the Trump administration sent packing on March 15.
Abrego Garcia's illegal entry into the U.S., his failure to appear for hearings on traffic violations, the domestic abuse allegations lodged against him, his links to a terrorist gang, and his identification by two immigration courts as a danger to the community were likely already cause enough to justify his deportation and to question his Democratic defenders' judgment. However, more damning information has come to light.
In the wake of the Tennessee Star's publication of footage showing Abrego Garcia's Nov. 30, 2022, encounter with Tennessee Highway Patrol and confirmation of the Department of Justice's investigation into the traffic stop, ABC News reported that the Salvadoran's boss has outed him as an human trafficker.
The traffic stop
Tennessee Highway Patrol reportedly pulled over Abrego Garcia in November 2022 for driving erratically, which he was reportedly doing without a valid license.
'He's getting paid to haul these people.'
The THP officer surmised from the MS-13 associate's human cargo and lack of luggage that Abrego Garcia — then on a terrorist watch list but not on a deportation list — was engaged in human trafficking.
One officer said in the video obtained by the Tennessee Star, "He's hauling these people for money. You've got an ICE hauler, is what he's doing. Sometimes they come in with dope."
"There's eight people in there," continued the officer. "He's getting paid to haul these people, probably to Maryland, I would say, if I had to guess."
— (@)
Tennessee Highway Patrol notified the Biden FBI, which told the officers to take pictures of Abrego Garcia and his seven passengers, then cut them loose.
While Abrego Garcia got to drive away with just a warning, he did so only after materially and verbally linking himself to a convicted human trafficker.
The black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado that Abrego Garcia was driving was reportedly flagged by the Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore field office as belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes — an illegal alien from Mexico who Abrego Garcia told a state trooper was his boss.
Hernandez-Reyes pleaded guilty on June 4, 2020, to smuggling illegal aliens. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, then deported, though he stole back into the U.S. sometime later and was eventually rearrested.
Abrego Garcia outed
Federal investigators looking into Abrego Garcia's 2022 traffic stop recently spoke with Hernandez-Reyes at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Hernandez-Reyes, who was granted limited immunity, told investigators he ran a "taxi service" based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Mexican national reportedly indicated that he met Abrego Garcia in 2015 and hired him on multiple occasions to smuggle illegal aliens from Texas to other places in the country.
Hernandez-Reyes previously told authorities that he would smuggle people throughout the U.S. for $350 per person. In the bodycam footage of the 2022 traffic stop obtained by the Tennessee Star, Abrego Garcia is said to have $1,400 in cash on his person.
ABC News indicated that the DOJ declined to comment.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
America’s Immigration Problem Won’t Be Solved By Letting Illegal Aliens Come Back Legally
3 Questions Angry Democrats Need To Answer About Illegal Alien Deportations
Exclusive: Government doesn't know if any illegal aliens registered for draft, as they are required to do, during Biden surge
The Oversight Project sent a Freedom of Information request earlier this year to the U.S. Selective Service System seeking data on illegal aliens who failed to register for the draft.
Now with the responses in, it appears that the watchdog group's hypothesis — both that the SSS during former President Joe Biden's tenure made little effort to ensure that male illegal aliens ages 18-26 were registered for the draft, as required by law, and that multitudes of military-age male illegal aliens likely slipped through the cracks as a result — was right on the money.
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News, "The fact that the Biden administration purposefully ignored having the biggest invasion of military-age males in American history fulfill their legal obligations is a massive scandal."
Background
Immigrant men ages 18-25 must register for the draft within 30 days of arriving in the country. According to the SSS, this includes parolees, illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, asylum-seekers, refugees, and all men with visas of any kind that expired more than 30 days ago. Those on current non-immigrant visas are exempt so long as their visas remain valid until they turn 26.
The Oversight Project filed a FOIA request in late January for documents pertaining to whether inadmissible and deportable aliens have been registering for the Selective Service.
The request noted that the SSS stated on its website that it does "not now, or in the past, collect or share any information which would indicate a man's immigration status, either documented or undocumented"; that it lacked the "authority to collect such information"; and that it had no use for such information "irrelevant to the registration requirement."
'Your agency would have seen unprecedented increases in registrations over the Biden administration.'
The Oversight Project appeared eager to square the agency's apparent refusal to collect data on multitudes of draft-eligible men on account of their undocumented status with the SSS' assertion that it plays a critical role in ensuring American readiness in a time of crisis and how "high registration rates across the nation serve as the foundation of fairness and equity for full operations."
The watchdog group also appeared interested in determining whether the SSS witnessed a spike in registrations during the unprecedented flood of illegal aliens into the United States during the Biden administration, noting that SSS data provided to Congress showed the agency received over 23,000 registrations in 2023 from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services but alternatively provided no data for entities that handle illegal immigration.
"If male inadmissible aliens between 18 and 26 were registering for the Selective Service, which is usually their duty under law, then your agency would have seen unprecedented increases in registrations over the Biden administration," said the FOIA request. "The absence of such a surge indicates that there is widespread criminal noncompliance by such aliens."
FOIA answered
The SSS informed the Oversight Project that it has no records for the period beginning Jan. 20, 2021, and ending March 20, 2025, sufficient to show how many:
- draft-eligible inadmissible aliens either registered or failed to register for the draft;
- draft-eligible males entered the country and either registered or failed to register for the draft;
- aliens who entered the U.S. as unaccompanied alien children that have since registered or failed to register for the draft;
- asylum applicants have registered or failed to register for the draft;
- aliens with final orders of removal have registered or failed to register for the draft; and
- draft-eligible males who registered or failed to register for the draft have also received or have applications pending for immigration parole, Temporary Protected Status, deferred enforcement departure, or Deferred Action on Childhood Arrival.
The SSS revealed further that it had no registration records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which does not register immigrants but provides non-immigrant visa information regarding ineligible men living in the country on temporary visa status.
'Luckily, this provides an opening for the Trump administration.'
The agency also noted that it receives printed copies of completed registration records for immigrants legally entering the country via U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Service — but that this information is entered into the Selective Service database without indications of whether the registrant is a legal immigrant or whether the records were provided by USCIS.
Relevance
The information concerning male illegal aliens' registration or failure to do so — which appears presently out of reach — is relevant for a number of reasons.
First, a knowing and purposeful failure to register on the part of an illegal alien is a felony offense under the Military Selective Service Act of 1917 and a deportable offense under the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952.
The Congressional Research Service indicated that the Department of Justice rarely pursues felony cases against those who fail to register for the draft — there were no criminal prosecutions between January 1986 and 2021. A failure to prosecute in decades past does not, however, mean that the Trump administration cannot start anew.
"Luckily, this provides an opening for the Trump administration, which is focused on removing criminal illegal aliens as a priority," Howell told Blaze News. "Now they can turn every military-age male illegal into a criminal overnight, drawing in way more government resources to support mass deportations."
Blaze News reached out to the DOJ for comment about prosecuting such offenses but did not receive a response by deadline.
Second, where relevance is concerned: Male illegal aliens who fail to register can be precluded from obtaining U.S. citizenship and are ineligible for certain federal and state employment opportunities and education benefits.
Third, the absence of an increase in registrations amid the unlawful deluge of military-age men into the U.S. during the Biden administration could serve as an indictment of elements of the previous government.
Fourth, American men might be interested to know in the event of a war necessitating the draft how many military-age foreign nationals have or have not registered to join them in risking all abroad to protect the United States and the vulnerable citizens who remain behind. Eligible citizens, like the SSS, might also have an interest in "fairness and equity" and like to know whether illegal aliens are willing to sacrifice for the nation into which they have stolen.
Willful blindness
Documents obtained by the Oversight Project revealed both an awareness behind the scenes that the SSS was failing to capture information on potential illegal alien registrants and an interest in omitting the requirement that illegal aliens register for the draft.
Craig Brown, who stepped into the role of acting director of the SSS in January 2021, appeared to confirm that the agency was consciously missing a big piece of the puzzle, noting in an April 28, 2023, email that "undocumented immigrants are by definition not giving data. We get info on every male trying to legit stay in the country."
'President Trump should fire Biden holdover Craig Brown.'
In a December 2022 email chain between Selective Service employees concerning the estimated cost of a legislative proposal that would automatically register all eligible men on their 18th birthdays, an employee then working as deputy general counsel, legislative affairs, noted, "We may want to consider omitting the requirement that undocumented immigrants register."
"President Trump should fire Biden holdover Craig Brown," said Howell. "It looks like he purposefully failed to realize that the biggest invasion of military-age males meant he should probably get them registered for the draft. That is his job, after all."
A Selective Service spokesman did not respond to a question about Brown's email but said in response to the Oversight Project's broader critique, "U.S. citizens and immigrants residing in the United States (except for those on non-immigrant visas) are required to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. The law permits men to register up until they turn age 26."
"The agency works to raise awareness of the legal requirement to register with all men within this age range," added the spokesman.
The spokesman told Blaze News that the agency "would not speculate on outcomes" when asked whether U.S. District Court Judge Trevor Neil McFadden's ruling earlier this month enabling the Trump administration to proceed with its requirement that everyone in the country illegally must register with the federal government might result in an increase in Selective Service registrations.
The Oversight Project made clear in its FOIA request why continued apathy on this matter is unacceptable, noting:
Failure to register for Selective Service is a felony, and thus the pool of potential criminal illegal aliens is much larger than believed. Moreover, an illegal alien's failure to register for Selective Service reflects that they are not coming to America for a better life with a desire to contribute to society. At the end of the day, they seek to illegally obtain the freedoms offered by America while at the very same time violating their legal duty to defend the country. Every illegal alien who submits an absurd asylum claim, is "paroled," or "gets away" after illegal[ly] crossing the border quite literally seeks to avail themselves of American freedoms on the backs of everyday Americans who complied with their Selective Service registration requirements and if it becomes necessary would defend those freedoms with their lives.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Dem governor denies directing state employees to break federal law to protect illegal aliens
Democrat Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' administration issued guidance on April 18 directing state employees not to immediately cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal agents.
The day the guidance went out, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helped a previously deported illegal alien facing three misdemeanor counts of battery get away from immigration officials following his pretrial April 18 appearance in her courtroom. Dugan has been charged with two federal felony counts: obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the U.S. and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.
In the wake of Dugan's arrest by the FBI, Evers apparently felt that critics' suggestion that his administration instructed state employees to violate federal law was "crap."
"That's what they would say no matter what," Evers told WISN-TV. "We're not encouraging them to break the law. In fact, one of the things that ICE is arresting people for, we're seeing all that, frankly, is not law-breaking. And then what do you do? So I think having caution right up front, I think, is important."
The guidance issued by Evers' Department of Administration provided state workers with instructions on what to do if ICE ever showed up to their office.
'It is absolutely insane for Governor Evers to order state employees to ignore federal law enforcement.'
After asking for the agent's name, badge, reason for showing up, and supporting documentation, the guidance instructed state employees to call their office of legal counsel and speak directly with an attorney. If an attorney is unreachable, then state employees were told to ask the federal agent to come back at another time.
The guidance contains a list of prohibitions:
- "Do not answer questions, including when an agent asks about someone you know or presents a warrant with an individual name."
- "Do not give the agent access to any paper files or computer systems without speaking to your attorney, including when the agent presents a warrant."
- "Do not give your consent for the agent to enter into a non-public area."
Anne Hanson, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration, noted in a corresponding letter to state employees, "While we hope it won't be necessary to put this guidance into practice, please do your part to be prepared."
Republican lawmakers and other critics noted at the time the guidance was issued that it would lead to trouble.
Rep. Tony Wied (R-Wisc.) said, "It is absolutely insane for Governor Evers to order state employees to ignore federal law enforcement. Wisconsinites want a secure border and they deserve a Governor that prioritizes their safety and wellbeing over illegal aliens."
'It's clear that Tony Evers is a Wisconsin Last governor.'
"Tony Evers is now directing state employees to not cooperate with federal law enforcement," wrote Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.). "Instead of obstruction, our governor should respect the law and work with federal law enforcement to secure our border and protect our communities."
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.) alerted Attorney General Pam Bondi to the guidance, writing, "Tony Evers is at it again. Now, his administration is ordering state employees to block ICE from doing their job. Wisconsin deserves better."
Wisconsin state Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R) wrote, "Between this and his promise to veto GOP legislation that would get violent illegal immigrants off our streets, it's clear that Tony Evers is a Wisconsin Last governor."
"The very fact that Tony Evers is instructing his employees to either break federal law or not cooperate with law enforcement is a new low for Tony Evers," Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said during a news conference last week, reported Wisconsin Public Radio. "Now he's telling every single state employee to ignore a warrant. It's really embarrassing."
Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police President Ryan Windorff stated, "Wow, Governor Evers, stellar plan! Instructing state employees to blow off federal agents, even with a warrant in hand, is next-level brilliance. Why bother with federal law when you can nudge your workers toward violating 18 U.S.C. § 111?"
"Nothing says 'great leadership' like hanging your employees out to dry for your political flex. Slow clap for Wisconsin," added Windorff.
'They run the show.'
Evers suggested to WISN that hamstringing federal efforts to find and deport illegal aliens is necessary to prevent Wisconsin from becoming a "shadow of the state we are right now," noting that Wisconsin farmers presently "have all sorts of undocumented people."
"I don't think we are going to stop ICE from doing whatever they're going to do, absolutely not. But we want to make it fair for the people that, our employees, I think it's important they have access to an attorney just for that exchange between ICE and one of our employees," continued Evers.
Fresh off embarrassing himself both trying to handle a football and trying to replace the word "mother" with "inseminated person," Evers added, "We're not taking any rights away from ICE. They run the show."
While keen on protecting foreign nationals who illegally stole into the homeland, Evers claimed in an April 25 statement bemoaning Dugan's arrest that he has a "deep respect for the rule of law," as well as for the "efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Dems condemn Trump admin over arrest of judge who allegedly helped illegal alien escape: 'A red line'
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest Friday of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan on charges of obstruction for her alleged role in helping an illegal alien escape detention last week.
Democratic lawmakers took a break from championing MS-13 associate Kilmar Abrego Garcia to condemn the Trump administration over Dugan's arrest.
Fresh off threatening foreign nations that cooperate with President Donald Trump, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) told Axios, "It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges."
Raskin's use of the plural "judges" suggests he may have also been referring to the Thursday arrest of Jose Cano, a former judge of the Dona Ana County Magistrate Court in New Mexico, who was found allegedly harboring a suspected Tren de Aragua terrorist.
"It's a whole new descent into government chaos," added Raskin.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) also found fault — not with those individuals allegedly breaking the law but with the administration enforcing the law.
"The Trump administration again is breaking norms in how it's dealing with immigration, the legal system, and normalcy," said Pocan. "This is stuff I expect from Third World countries."
'If enough of us act similarly, and strategically, we can stand with our neighbors.'
Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman (Ohio) told Axios, "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order. This will have to be a red line for congressional Republicans. Unbelievable."
Ahead of Dugan's arrest, Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy stated, "I commend Judge Hannah Dugan's defense of due process by preventing ICE from shamefully using her courtroom as an ad hoc holding area for deportations."
"She used her position of power and privilege to protect someone from an agency that has repeatedly, flagrantly abused its own power," continued Clancy. "If enough of us act similarly, and strategically, we can stand with our neighbors and build a better world."
'The Judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public.'
Patel indicated that Judge Dugan helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz get away from immigration officials following his pre-trial April 18 appearance in her courtroom.
Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien from Mexico who was previously deported in 2013, faces three misdemeanor counts of battery. The battery charges reportedly include modifiers for domestic violence and reflect that he allegedly punched one individual 30 times, then brutalized the woman who attempted to intervene.
Bondi noted in an interview Friday that both of Flores-Ruiz's alleged victims had to be hospitalized.
"We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest," said Patel. "Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he's been in custody since, but the Judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public."
Flores-Ruiz is now listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Brady McCarron, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, reportedly indicated that Dugan is being charged with two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual.
'No one is above the law.'
Chief Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Carl Ashley noted in an email to judges that ICE agents came to the courthouse on April 18 with an arrest warrant and identified themselves to security. They went to the sixth floor, where Dugan's courtroom is located, and "presented the warrant as well as their identification," reported the Sentinel.
Bondi told Fox News that when Dugan found out ICE was outside her court room, "She goes out in the hallway, screams at the immigration officers — she's furious, visibly shaken, upset — sends them off to talk to the chief judge."
Sources told the Sentinel that while ICE officials went to talk to a chief judge on the sixth floor, Dugan took the illegal alien and his attorney to a side door in the court room, directed them down a private hallway, and into a public area, reported the Sentinel.
Judge Dugan reportedly went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries during a brief hearing Friday afternoon and made no public comments. Her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court, "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety."
Attorney General Pam Bondi noted on X, "No one is above the law."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
NYT Wants You To Feel Very Sorry For This Drug-Dealing Kidnapper Trump Deported
ROOKE: Gavin Newsom Crossed The Line, And Now He’s Paying The Price
'If you step out of the party line on any narrative, you'll pay the price'
Boss of MS-13 associate championed by Democrats was human trafficker: Report
Democrats have centered their opposition to the Trump administration's deportation of foreign gangsters under the Alien Enemies Act on the case of MS-13 associate Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national sent packing on March 15.
The tale they have attempted to tell with the assistance of willing elements of the liberal media is one of an innocent "Maryland man" traduced — an immigrant wrongfully detained, wrongfully deported, and wrongfully imprisoned in his home country.
While this narrative has already collapsed under the weight of numerous troubling facts about Abrego Garcia — his illegal entry into the U.S.; his admitted failure to appear for hearings on traffic violations; the domestic abuse allegations lodged against him; his affiliation with a terrorist gang; and the determination by two courts that he poses a danger to the community — it appears there is yet more dirt on the supposed innocent whom Democrats seek to bring back into the United States.
According to court and Homeland Security Department intelligence documents reviewed by Just the News, the vehicle Abrego Garcia was driving when pulled over by police in 2022 was owned by a human trafficker.
'Vehicle is used by HSI Baltimore target in human smuggling/trafficking operation.'
The Tennessee Star revealed in a damning report last week that Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled Abrego Garcia over in late 2022 for driving erratically and discovered that he was transporting seven passengers from Texas to Maryland.
The THP officer realized that the Salvadoran national, who did not have a valid driver's license at the time, was on a terrorist watch list but not on a deportation list. One of Abrego Garcia's passengers also was apparently on a terrorist watch list.
The officer, concerned that the MS-13 associate was engaged in human trafficking — his suspicion piqued by the passengers' lack of luggage — notified the Biden FBI, which instructed him to take pictures of Abrego Garcia and his passengers, then to release them.
At the time, DHS intelligence created a record of the encounter.
Documents reviewed by Just the News indicate that the black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that Abrego Garcia was driving had been flagged by the Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore field office as belonging to a suspected human trafficker.
"Vehicle is used by HSI Baltimore target in human smuggling/trafficking operation. Vehicle makes trips to southern border to pick up noncitizens," said the record.
The DHS identified the owner of the SUV that Abrego Garcia was driving as Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes — an illegal alien from Mexico who Abrego Garcia told a state trooper was his boss.
Hernandez Reyes pleaded guilty on June 4, 2020, to smuggling illegal aliens.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi indicated that Hernandez Reyes was pulled over on Dec. 4, 2019, in a white minivan he had rented, which was carrying seven illegal aliens — including three who were previously deported or removed from the U.S. — from Houston, Texas, to different locations around the country.
Abrego Garcia's alleged boss was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Following his prison sentence, he was scheduled for removal proceedings.
It appears the illegal alien whom Democrats are desperate to return to the U.S. may have picked up where his alleged boss left off.
Despite Abrego Garcia's record, Democrats continue to throw their support behind him.
Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled last week at taxpayers' expense to El Salvador, where he demanded Abrego Garcia's release from the country's Terrorism Confinement Center and shared an intimate moment with the Salvadoran national over drinks.
On Monday, Democratic Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.), and Maxine Dexter (Ore.) followed in Van Hollen's footsteps but were denied a similar opportunity to dine with the MS-13 associate. Before returning to the U.S., they impotently demanded that President Donald Trump "bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home now."
Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg rushed to defend the MS-13 associate on Sunday, telling Trump's former chief of staff Reince Priebus, "This was not an MS-13 gang member, and you damn well know that. He was not."
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's daughter recently appeared to liken Abrego Garcia to Jesus Christ and suggested that "this administration would have already taken [Jesus] and removed him from this country without due process."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Get the Conservative Review delivered right to your inbox.
We’ll keep you informed with top stories for conservatives who want to become informed decision makers.
Today's top stories