US: Mistakenly deported El Salvador man returns to face smuggling charges

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongly deported from Maryland during the Trump administration, has been returned to the US to face federal smuggling charges, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday.

Garcia, 29, was sent back to El Salvador in 2023 despite a judge’s ruling that returning him would put him at risk of gang violence. 

His wife and child are US citizens living in Maryland.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in federal court in Nashville on Friday and remains in custody. His arraignment is set for June 13.

Garcia is accused of helping operate a human-smuggling ring that moved undocumented migrants across the US, particularly between Houston and Maryland. Prosecutors say he made over 100 trips transporting people between 2016 and 2025.

They also claim he was involved in moving drugs and firearms, and link his group to a 2021 incident in Mexico where 50 migrants died in a truck crash.

Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, dismissed the charges as exaggerated. He questioned the credibility of the witnesses, many of whom are themselves facing prosecution or serving time.

“This is all based on the statements of individuals who were offered something,” he said.

The indictment has already caused fallout. Ben Schrader, the head of the criminal division in the US Attorney’s Office in Middle Tennessee, resigned in protest after it was filed. He hasn’t commented publicly, but insiders say he viewed the case as a step too far.

Garcia had been held in El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center. The U.S. issued a warrant, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele approved his return.

Attorney General Bondi defended the charges, calling Garcia a major figure in a dangerous smuggling network.

Former President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying the decision to bring Garcia back was likely made “to show everybody how horrible this guy is.”

Prosecutors claim a co-conspirator testified that Garcia joined MS-13 by murdering a rival gang member’s mother. That claim is not formally listed in the indictment but is being used to argue for pretrial detention.

Each smuggling count carries up to 10 years in prison. If convicted on all charges, Garcia could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The case has deepened tension between the courts and the Trump-era Justice Department.

The Supreme Court had previously ordered Garcia’s return, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticizing his deportation as a “warrantless arrest.”

US District Judge Paula Xinis is now examining whether the government followed proper legal procedures. The Justice Department says returning Garcia fulfills the court order.

His lawyer disagrees, saying the government must also return him to the same immigration judge who ruled in 2019 that he shouldn’t be deported in the first place.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, who visited Garcia while he was detained in El Salvador, welcomed his return. He emphasized that due process must now be respected and the case should proceed in court.

(Reuters)

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