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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused CBS News of "shamefully" editing her interview discussing Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Noem appeared on Face the Nation Sunday (August 31) morning and accused Abrego, an illegal immigrant who was recently detained by ICE after a mistaken deportation to El Salvador, of being an MS-13 gang member, but pointed out that part of her answer was clipped in a post shared on her X account.
"This morning, I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety. Watch for the part of my interview that @CBS tried to cover up," Noem wrote with her uncut response compared to the CBS clip.
Noem's unedited clip included her making several serious accusations against Abrego.
“This individual was a known human smuggler, a MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors, and even his fellow human traffickers told him to knock it off, he was so sick in what he was doing and how he was treating small children,” she said.
“So he needs to never be in the United States of America and our administration is making sure we’re doing all that we can to bring him to justice,” she added.
A CBS representative issued a statement to the New York Post claiming that Noem's interview was edited for time and met all the standards set by the network, adding that the full interview was available on YouTube and a full transcript was shared to CBS News' website.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that Abrego cannot be deported, for now, following his ICE detainment after an immigration check-in. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered that Abrego must stay detained in the United States until an evidentiary hearing is held.
Abrego, who recently reunited with his family after 160 days due to a mistaken deportation to El Salvador, was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody following a Baltimore check-in, his attorneys confirmed to NBC News on August 25. The check-in was part of conditions for Abrego's release from federal custody on parole last Friday (August 22) and while meetings are typically routine and intended for case updates, his detainment came days after President Donald Trump claimed he intended to deport Abrego to Uganda.
"There was no need to take him into ICE detention ... the only reason they took him into detention was to punish him," for using his constitutional right to speak up and contest proceedings," said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of the attorneys representing Abrego, on Monday.
Sandoval-Moshenberg said he and other attorneys representing Abrego asked why their client was being detained and an officer couldn't give an answer. The ICE officers also couldn't provide details on where Abrego was going following his detainment, according to Sandoval-Moshenberg.
Abrego had previously spoken at a press conference prior to his ICE appointment alongside his family, legal team and other supporters.
"My name is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and I want you to remember this, remember that I am free and I was able to be reunited with my family," he said in Spanish, which was repeated in English by a translator. "This was a miracle. Thank you to God and thank you to the community," Abrego added. "I want to thank each and every one of you who marched, lift your voices, never stop praying, and continue to fight in my name."
Abrego was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March in relation to a violation of a 2019 court order and was hit with human smuggling charges out of Tennessee, which he pleaded not guilty to, upon returning to the United States in June. President Trump's administration has accused Abrego of being a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which his attorneys have denied, claiming he illegally immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 16 to join his brother in Maryland in order to escape gang violence in El Salvador.