Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador sparked a due process and wills struggle, was returned to the US to face human smuggling charges in Tennessee and appeared in federal court Friday, as quoted in a report by NBC News.
What are the new allegations against him?
At a Friday press conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated he had arrived “to face justice.” Pam Bondi says Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who was wrongfully deported and lived in Maryland, is back in the country to face federal charges.
The U.S. is indicting 29-year-old Abrego Garcia for trafficking illegal immigrants. Last month, a Tennessee court sealed a two-count indictment alleging that Abrego Garcia conspired to relocate Texas residents deeper into the country over nine years.
He collaborated with co-conspirators and transported MS-13 members, according to the indictment. Kilmar Abrego Garcia will be charged with smuggling’ undocumented migrants.
A federal grand jury indicted Abrego Garcia for transporting undocumented migrants inside the United States. Abrego Garcia was described by Bondi as a “danger to our community,” as per NBC News.Garcia and at least five co-conspirators allegedly planned to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and other countries between 2016 and 2025, according to the indictment filed on May 21. According to the indictment, the group would accept money from undocumented immigrants to transport them and communicated via social media and cell phones.
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Garcia traveled as a member of a ring that trafficked women, children, guns, and drugs, the grand jury concluded. Garcia was accused by co-conspirators of abusing women he was transporting and contributing to the murder of the mother of a rival gang member. These charges will be brought against Abrego Garcia in Nashville, Tennessee.
Prosecutors say he should be held because he poses a flight risk. Trial testimony will demonstrate that he transported “about 50 undocumented aliens per month for several years,” according to a custody memo.
For “each alien” he transports, he risks a potential penalty of 10 years in prison, which prosecutors claim is a life sentence.
According to the Justice Department, Abrego Garcia “furthered his criminal activity” by using MS-13. Citing the results of the grand jury, President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he should never have been sent back, as per a report by ABC News.
Why was Kilmar Abrego Garcia deported in the first place?
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was arrested in the United States on suspicion of being a member of the MS-13 gang, has encountered many difficulties, including legal ones.
He has been defended by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, who claims that he was not engaged in any illegal activity at the time. Garcia and his family have allegedly been the target of a disinformation and defamation campaign by the Trump administration.
Was there any real evidence tying him to MS-13 or criminal activity?
Garcia spent 14 years in the United States, working in construction, getting married, and raising three disabled children. ICE stated on March 12, 2025, that his deportation was the result of a “administrative error.”
Garcia, however, refuted the accusation and was never prosecuted. He was protected from deportation to El Salvador by a U.S. immigration judge because he was probably persecuted by local gangs there.
How is his legal team responding to the new accusations?
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, stated that bringing him back for prosecution “is an abuse of power, not justice.” Simon attacked the Trump administration for the new accusations against his client, saying that they would do anything, even the most absurd things, to avoid acknowledging their error.
To justify Garcia’s deportation and in response to court orders, the Trump administration has made a number of accusations against him public.
Garcia’s return to the United States was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal judge in April, but the administration refused to comply.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador agreed to send Garcia back after initially refusing to do so, but the administration insisted that it was up to him to do so, as per a report by NBC News.
FAQs
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
He is a Salvadoran immigrant who previously lived in Maryland. He is now accused of smuggling undocumented migrants and is linked to MS-13.
Why is Pam Bondi being criticized?
Critics argue that Bondi mishandled Garcia’s deportation and is now using extreme charges to cover up a legal error.
