California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a hearing after she refused to admit that the words "MS13" had been photoshopped onto a photo of wrongly-deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckle tattoos.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who arrived in the U.S. in 2012, was labeled a threat in 2019 due to an alleged connection to MS-13. He spent months in detention before an immigration judge found he had a credible fear of persecution—not from MS-13, but from a rival group, Barrio 18, which he said had been extorting his family.
Following that ruling, Abrego Garcia was released and reunited with his wife and son, both U.S. citizens. However, without warning, immigration authorities detained and deported him in March. He has consistently denied any affiliation with MS-13.
The Justice Department has since acknowledged that his removal violated a 2019 court order, calling it an error. Nonetheless, officials maintain they still consider him a threat based on the original allegations and have ignored a Supreme Court order to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
Abrego Garcia has four knuckle tattoos, and during the hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell pointed to a photo in which the letters “M” and “S” and the numbers “1” and “3” appeared above his hands. These elements had been photoshopped into the image, clearly intended to suggest a connection to MS-13 and misrepresent the actual meaning of Garcia’s tattoos.
You can watch Swalwell and Noem's exchange in the video below.
Swalwell repeatedly pressed Noem over the authenticity of the widely circulated image. "You agree that the letters ‘M-S’ and the number 13, in Times Roman Numeral font... are doctored on this photo, right?" he asked directly.
Noem initially tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, saying, “Abrego Garcia is–” before Swalwell cut in: “No, no, I’m just asking about this photo.”
Undeterred, Noem pivoted to Garcia’s alleged gang affiliations:
“–a known member of MS-13. It wasn’t based off of tattoos. It was based off an entire case.”
Swalwell momentarily accepted her premise—“OK, and I’ll accept that for the purpose of this question”—before returning to the point:
"You agree, though, that this is doctored? Is that right?”
Noem again avoided a direct answer, insisting, “The same protocols that are applied to every–” before Swalwell interjected again:
“I want you to have credibility and I want you to be taken seriously. Is this doctored or is it not doctored?”
“I am taken quite seriously,” Noem responded, adding that she approaches her job with the gravity the president expects of her. Still pressing, Swalwell repeated, “Is it doctored or not doctored?” Noem countered: “One thing that’s important to remember is that every single time a case built–”
Growing frustrated, Swalwell invoked his own children, saying,
“I have a 7-year-old, a 6-year-old, and a 3-year-old. I have a bulls**t detector. I’m just asking you: is this doctored or not doctored?”
Noem again sidestepped: “Sir, the protocols in the case built against–” Swalwell made one last push: “Can you answer the question?”
Noem finally said:
“I don’t have any knowledge as to that photo you’re pointing to."
Noem was harshly criticized after footage of the exchange went viral.
Last month, President Donald Trump sparked criticism after claiming during an interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran that the photoshopped image is in fact accurate and offered evidence that showed that Abrego Garcia has an alleged connection to the MS-13 gang.
Trump claimed that Abrego Garcia had “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles, referencing the photo, but Moran pushed back, saying, “That was Photoshop,” noting that the letters “M,” “S,” “1,” and “3” had been digitally added above unrelated tattoos—a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross, and skull.
Moran clarified, “He did not have the letter, ‘M,’ ‘S,’ ‘1,’ ‘3,’” and added that while some tattoos were “interpreted that way,” Garcia’s family and attorneys deny any gang affiliation. Trump maintained, however, that the image was as “clear as you can be.”
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