TV Host Says Salvadorans in Chicago Bulls Hats Are MS-13 While Talking About Kilmar’s Case and Now Bulls Fans Are Livid

TV Host Says Salvadorans in Chicago Bulls Hats Are MS-13 While Talking About Kilmar’s Case and Now Bulls Fans Are Livid
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia is alive and well. That should be the headline. His forced removal from the United States and ongoing detention in El Salvador have become the center of a legal and political standoff involving the Supreme Court, U.S. federal agencies, and Salvadoran authorities. Yet public discourse surrounding his case has shifted to something far more troubling: a televised claim that his choice of headwear signals gang membership.

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Legal Proceedings and the Battle for Justice

The remarks came amid growing pressure on U.S. authorities to comply with a Supreme Court ruling requiring the facilitation of Abrego Garcia’s return. A federal judge has now authorized lawyers to depose top officials to determine whether that order is being followed. “Cancel vacations, cancel other appointments,” Maryland District Judge Paula Xinis instructed the administration’s legal team this week.

Abrego Garcia was deported despite having been granted protection by an immigration judge, who found that he faced a “well-founded” fear of persecution if sent back to El Salvador. The judge also dismissed allegations that he belonged to MS-13. Those claims had been based largely on his attire and a tip from a confidential informant who linked him to the Western clique of the gang, which operates in New York — a place where Abrego Garcia has never lived. The arresting officer in that case was later suspended after being accused of providing information about an ongoing investigation to a sex worker he had paid.

Since entering the United States, Abrego Garcia married a U.S. citizen, became a stepfather to two children, and had a daughter of his own, now five. His supporters say his case reflects a broader erosion of procedural protections for immigrants whose legal status has been challenged by flawed enforcement practices.

The Perils of Mocking Immigrant Struggles

Watters went further, ridiculing the explanation that Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador as a teenager due to threats against his family’s small business. On air, he referred to it as a “tortilla blood vendetta,” mocking the account of gang extortion against his grandmother’s pupusa shop. That kind of minimization overlooks the very real dangers faced by families targeted by criminal groups across Central America and echoes a long history of belittling the asylum claims of immigrants from the region.

For many immigrants, including Abrego Garcia, leaving their home countries is not the result of a trivial dispute but a direct response to violence, intimidation, and the destruction of livelihoods. The mocking of these struggles, particularly in a national media setting, dismisses the desperation that compels people to leave everything behind for a chance at survival and safety in the United States. Immigrant communities already face significant challenges — from discrimination to a lack of legal protections. Public figures who minimize their experiences only deepen the social divide, making it harder for those in need to be taken seriously when seeking refuge.

The broader public reaction to his case — especially in televised commentary — reveals how quickly asylum narratives can be trivialized for entertainment. When pundits reframe a family business threatened by criminal gangs as comedic material, the result is a chilling erasure of the lived realities that define the asylum process. It also erodes empathy at a time when due process for immigrants is already under strain.

The Risk of Racial Profiling Thanks to the Chicago Bulls Comment

On Tuesday, TV host Jesse Watters claimed that Abrego Garcia’s decision to wear a Chicago Bulls hat “means you’re MS-13” and that it indicates he “hang[s] around with high-ranking gangsters.” The statement, made during a primetime broadcast, ties an article of clothing to criminal affiliation without evidence. That line of reasoning, repeated in national media, risks reinforcing stereotypes that have historically contributed to racial profiling, wrongful detentions, and discrimination against Latinos in the United States.

Equating a Chicago Bulls hat with gang affiliation, especially when done without context or supporting evidence, is more than reckless commentary. It fuels a narrative that has long driven over-policing and unjust suspicion toward immigrant communities. When national media treat it as such, the consequences reach far beyond a single man or a single case.

By suggesting that something as innocuous as a hat can serve as an indicator of gang membership, Watters’ words risk solidifying harmful prejudices in the public consciousness, further eroding the trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement. In cities across the country, these kinds of stereotypes have led to stops, searches, and detentions based on little more than appearance.

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