Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, issued a statement explaining why she filed for a domestic violence restraining order against her husband in 2021.
According to court filings, Sura accused Abrego Garcia of punching, scratching, grabbing, and bruising her and ripping off her clothes.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a history of violence and was not the upstanding “Maryland Man” the media has portrayed him as.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 16, 2025
According to court filings, Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, claiming he punched, scratched, and ripped off her shirt,… pic.twitter.com/FpSV0k3i90
“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution following a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order, in case things escalated,” Sura said. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”
She took issue with the Trump administration using the court filing to demonstrate Abrego Garcia “had a history of violence.”
“Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed, "Sura said. "No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. But that is not a justification for ICE’s action of abducting him and deporting him to a country where he was supposed to be protected from removal.”
Abrego Garcia, who had been in the U.S. illegally and reportedly has ties to MS-13, was sent to a prison in El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele has said he will not send him back and the Trump administration maintains it does not have the authority to get him back.
“DHS does not have authority to forcibly extract an alien from the domestic custody of a foreign sovereign nation,” wrote Joseph Mazzara, acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, in a sworn declaration.
Sura claimed Abrego Garcia "has always been a loving partner and father" and said she will continue to fight for him.