STATEMENT: Trump's Deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia

STATEMENT: On March 31, 2025, the Trump administration conceded in a court filing that it had mistakenly deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a legally protected Maryland resident and father, to El Salvador "because of an administrative error." The administration also argues that since Kilmar is now in Salvadoran custody, the government cannot return him to the United States. 

Abrego Garcia is a SMART Local 100 first-year apprentice who currently works full-time to support his young family. He fled gang violence in El Salvador more than a decade ago. 

SMART General President Michael Coleman issued the following statement in response:

“Kilmar, our Local 100 brother, is a resident of Maryland and a sheet metal apprentice who works full-time to support his wife and five-year-old son, who has autism and a hearing impairment. He came to the United States as a teenager 15 years ago, and it is my understanding that he was legally authorized to live and work in this country and had fully complied with his responsibilities under the law. He did not have a criminal record and is, in fact, an example of the hard work that SMART members pride themselves on. And yet, the Trump Administration still — aware of his protected status — deported him to El Salvador, leaving his wife to discover that information from photographs in a news release.

In his pursuit of the life promised by the American dream, Brother Kilmar was literally helping to build this great country. What did he get in return? Arrest and deportation to a nation whose prisons face outcry from human rights organizations. SMART condemns his treatment in the strongest possible terms, and we demand his rightful return.”

Trump's carelessness and commitment to his racist, twisted agenda means direct harm to workers across the country. The Colorado AFL-CIO has and will continue to stand up against his attacks on the basic freedoms of workers. We stand in unwavering solidarity with Kilmar, SMART Local 100, his family, and his community, recognizing that an injury to one is an injury to all.