The story of the “Maryland father” deported to El Salvador’s infamous CECOT supermax prison continues to garner “victim porn” coverage on Spanish-language media. But in order for the story to stick, there need to be significant omissions and distortions when discussing the “victim” in this case.
Consider the many omissions and deflections during Telemundo’s very brief coverage of the story for its midday newscast:
NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO MEDIODÍA
4/2/25
12:38 PM
OCTAVIO PULIDO: Today a Salvadoran family fights for the return to the United States of Kilmar Abrego who was arrested while taking his son, who has autism, to school. Abrego was deported to the CECOT mega prison in his country of origin despite having valid asylum, work permit and driver’s license. According to ICE, a member of MS-13. In 2019, a judge had already dismissed that accusation. After his expulsion, the immigration service stated in a court document that his deportation was due to an administrative error.
The 27-second brief accomplishes its purpose: it casts the “Maryland father” as a victim of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, casts the deportation as cruel and imperiling a family, and tries to establish that he is completely innocent of any allegations. But this is false.
The amount of omissions required to make this case to the viewing public is simply astounding. There are no mentions of the individual’s suspected gang affiliations, or of the details of his 2019 arrest. There is no mention of the fact that multiple immigration courts found that there was credible evidence linking the deportee to MS-13 including, per a confidential informant: confirmed affiliation, gang name, and gang rank. Per Amber Duke of the Daily Caller:
🚨 Daily Caller Senior Editor @ambermarieduke joins @reason and delivers the FACTS about the "Maryland father" MS-13 gang member👇
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 2, 2025
DUKE: "I'll fill in the gaps here.... The other individuals he [deported 'Maryland father'] was with at the Home Depot--that he was arrested… pic.twitter.com/ECLGrQlH3h
As is the custom, especially among Spanish-language media, there is a blatant conceal of relevant data in service of a narrative. In Telemundo’s case, a narrative in furtherance of advocacy against border enforcement.
