Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of an illegal immigrant whose deportation has divided America, got suddenly tight-lipped Friday when asked about a protection order she filed against her husband in 2021.
In the filing, written in Sura’s own handwriting, she alleged Kilmar Abrego Garcia repeatedly beat her, saying, “At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me.”
“Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan spoke to Sura on Friday about her husband’s controversial deportation to a mega-prison in El Salvador.
After detailing how overjoyed she and Abrego Garcia’s family were to see him alive in a photo with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., she gave a rosy summary of their relationship, saying, “We’ve been together over 7 years. It’s been amazing. He’s a loving husband, amazing father, and we were just young parents trying to live the American dream.”
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After Sura denied that her husband is in MS-13 or any other gang, the news host pressed on another issue.
“I know this is a sensitive question, but I have to ask it. You did take out a temporary order of protection against your husband in 2021,” he said. “Were you in fear of your husband?”
Sura paused for a moment and then dodged the question, answering, “My husband is alive, that’s all I can say.”
“Okay,” Strahan, saying he now knows “not to push you on that, apparently.”
She ended the interview by declaring that she won’t stop fighting until Abrego Garcia returns home safely.
On Wednesday, Sura put out a statement addressing the domestic violence allegations: “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. 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,”
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“Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect,” the statement continued. “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, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) last month. Officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error. However, now some top Trump officials say he had been correctly removed and contend that he is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang.
Both a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings, with a federal appeals court rejecting the administration’s request to block the order on Thursday.
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In the 2021 filing, Sura alleged that Abrego Garcia punched and scratched her on her eye, leaving her bleeding. He also allegedly threw her laptop on the floor.
She wrote that on another day, Abrego Garcia got angry again, started yelling, and ripped her shirt and shorts off before grabbing her arm and leaving marks.
Sura recalled two times in 2020 that Abrego Garcia hit her.
“In November 2020, he hit me with his work boot,” she wrote. “In August 2020, he hit me in the eye leaving a purple eye.”