The Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized Kilmar Abrego Garcia on social media, saying it was unfair that DHS officials are restricted by a court gag order while Abrego Garcia can post freely online.
Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran man who Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) mistakenly deported from the United States—shared a TikTok in which he lip-syncs to the Spanish-language Christian song “Himno de Victoria” (“Hymn of Victory”) by Danny Berrios.
McLaughlin wrote on X: “So we, at @DHSgov, are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks. American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system.”
Why It Matters
Abrego Garcia had been living in Maryland for years with his U.S. national wife and child, and a judge in 2019 had protected him from deportation. Despite that, he was sent earlier this year to a well-known detention center in El Salvador.
His case has since moved through multiple federal courts. The Supreme Court ruled his deportation was illegal, and judges ruled in the summer that he must be released from custody and returned to Maryland.
Abrego Garcia has been accused of ties to MS-13, the Salvadoran gang involved in human smuggling. President Donald Trump’s administration has also said the group is a foreign terrorist organization. Abrego Garcia has no U.S. criminal record. Two judges, in separate rulings, concluded he was an MS-13 member, but he was shielded from deportation to El Salvador after arguing he would be targeted by rival gangs while his case was investigated.
What To Know
In her X post, McLaughlin reshared a TikTok that Abrego Garcia posted on December 27. The clip shows him lip-syncing to the song, and it has circulated widely—garnering millions of views through reposts on X.
The investigation into whether Abrego Garcia was involved with MS-13 and human smuggling remains ongoing. After his attorneys repeatedly argued that public comments from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were undermining his right to a fair trial, DHS was placed under a gag order restricting public discussion of the case.
The order initially covered nearly all of DHS’s roughly 300,000 employees, but it has since been narrowed, according to a report by the Tennessee Star.
In the latest development, a federal judge this week canceled Abrego Garcia’s trial and set a hearing to examine whether the prosecution has acted vindictively in pursuing the case. The judge said Abrego Garcia had presented enough evidence to justify a hearing, scheduled for January 28, where prosecutors will need to explain their decision-making. If they cannot, the charges could be dismissed.
McLaughlin’s criticism also follows an order earlier this month from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis barring immigration authorities from detaining Abrego Garcia.
What Did Abrego Garcia Lip-Sync To?
“Himno de Victoria” centers on faith, divine help, and overcoming hardship. The song draws on biblical imagery—particularly the Israelites crossing the Red Sea—to describe perseverance through daunting trials.
For example, the lyrics “Cuando estés frente al mar/Y lo tengas que atravesar/Llama a este hombre con fe” translate to: “When you stand before the sea/And you must cross it/Call upon this man with faith.”
It also includes: “Cada vez que el mar Rojo/Tú tengas que pasar,” meaning: “Every time you have to cross the Red Sea/Always call upon this man.”
Later lines—“Pasa como Israel/Que, el mar, atravesó/Y en el nombre del Señor/El himno de Victoria”—translate to: “Pass like Israel/Who crossed the sea/And in the name of the Lord/The hymn of victory.”
What Happens Next
Abrego Garcia has a pending asylum application in immigration court and faces criminal charges in Tennessee tied to human smuggling allegations. A federal judge is expected to weigh key issues in the case in the near future.
