(NewsNation) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorney, Benjamin Osorio, told “CUOMO” there is no current proof his client has any affiliation with the notorious Salvadoran gang MS-13.
Abrego Garcia entered the United States illegally but acquired protected legal status in 2019. His wife and children all hold U.S. citizenship. Abrego Garcia, 29, was arrested in March and mistakenly deported to El Salvador from his home in Maryland.
Osorio joined “CUOMO” for an exclusive live interview Tuesday night to discuss the status of his client and the likelihood of his return to the U.S.
“This is an individual who’s married to a U.S. citizen, who has three U.S. citizen kids, who has no criminal record, who’s a union member and pays taxes,” Osorio said. “I thought those were the kind of people that we said that we weren’t going after.”
According to the White House and President Donald Trump, they cannot bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. because he is a citizen of El Salvador. His home nation is presently unwilling to return him, and according to Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, he is being held in the notorious CECOT prison.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorney trying to get wellness check
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Abrego Garcia is “a foreign terrorist and an MS-13 gang member.”
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Trump administration must return Abrego Garcia, the Department of Justice is pushing back. Trump met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in the White House on Monday, and Bukele said he does not plan on returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
Osorio said he has seen “no evidence to date” that any of what Leavitt, Trump or Bukele have said regarding the MS-13 affiliation is true.
Credit: U.S. District Court 
This undated photo shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP) 
Jennifer, center, whose husband Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by ICE, is hugged by a staff member of CASA, at the CASA Multicultural Center during a news conference ahead of Garcia’s hearing. 
Protesters gather outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland during Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hearing. 
Jennifer Vasquez Sura, whose husband Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported by ICE, speaks at a rally and news conference at the CASA Multicultural Center ahead of his hearing. 
GREENBELT, MD – APR 4: Protestors stand outside the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland during Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hearing. 
Lucia Curiel, who represented Kilmar Abrego Garcia, speaks at a news conference and rally for Garcia before his hearing at the CASA Multicultural Center. 
This undated photo provided by CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, in April, shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (CASA via AP)
“I did not represent him, or I should say, our team did not represent him in the original proceedings in 2019. I’ve seen those documents, [and] there’s nothing in there that makes me believe that he is an MS-13 gang member,” Osorio said.
The U.S. State Department has designated MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, as a terrorist organization. The gang was created by Salvadoran immigrants in the U.S. before it gained traction in Central America, according to officials.
“I haven’t seen a lot of proof in court,” Osorio said. “And it’s very easy to say this stuff when you’re not under oath at a press conference, but do it in court. Do it when you have a duty of candor to the court. Do it when you’re at a risk of perjury — that’s when I believe it.”
Osorio is currently trying to facilitate a wellness check on Abrego Garcia by a human rights group or an imminent congressional delegation involving Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorney believes they can get him back to US
Abrego Garcia had been living in the country with his family under protected legal status since 2019. This means he should not have been deported because a judge already agreed, after hearing his case, that his life was in danger there.
The Trump administration has continued to argue that Abrego Garcia is a high-ranking gang member after they say a confidential informant identified him as such, specifically identifying him as part of MS-13’s Long Island leadership.
Harrison Fields, special assistant to the president, told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, “This individual will stay there. This wasn’t a Maryland father — this is a Salvadoran man who was illegally in this country, who is affiliated with MS-13.”
Abrego Garcia has denied these accusations. He has said he has never been to Long Island. Law enforcement officials in New York’s Suffolk and Nassau counties do not have an arrest record or a record of investigation into Abrego Garcia.
As for getting Abrego Garcia back to his home in Maryland, Osorio believes it is possible.
“I think we get them back at some point. I think it’s in the government’s interest to avoid a constitutional crisis. I think it’s in El Salvador’s interest to avoid this. I think they don’t like the publicity on this right now. I think that’s why it’s hot,” he said.