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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador made him a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump's immigration policy, faces human trafficking charges after he was returned to the United States, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Abrego Garcia made more than 100 trips to move illegal immigrants across the United States, Bondi said at a June 6 press conference, alleging he was a member of the MS-13 street gang. "Thousands of illegal aliens were smuggled," she said.
The indictment was a dramatic turnabout for Abrego Garcia's supporters, who have portrayed him as an innocent man turned political pawn amid Trump's mass deportation program.
To the contrary, Bondi said, Abrego Garcia "traded the innocence of minor children for profit."
Trump: Abrego Garcia affair a 'total disaster'
President Donald Trump refused to comment to reporters traveling with him June 6 about whether he pressed Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to return Abrego Garcia. But Trump continued to argue he shouldn’t have been returned.
“He should’ve never had to be returned,” Trump said. “Either way it’s a total disaster – this is a pretty bad guy.”
But Trump said the Justice Department made a decision “to bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is.”
“The man has a horrible past, and I can see a decision being made,” Trump said. “I could see it either way, bringing him back or not bringing him back but bringing him back you can show how bad he is. He’s a bad guy.”
-Francesca Chambers, Bart Jansen
Salvadoran President Bukele: U.S. wanted him back
Savadoran President Nayib Bukele said on social media he sent Abrego Garcia to the U.S. at the Trump administration's "request." His explanation came after the administration spent weeks telling judges it could not compel Abrego Garcia's return.
Bukele himself, in an April meeting in the Oval Office, appeared to close the door on Abrego Garcia's departure from prison in El Salvador.
"As I said in the Oval Office: 1. I would never smuggle a terrorist into the United States. 2. I would never release a gang member onto the streets of El Salvador," Bukele explained on X after Abrego Garcia landed in the U.S. "That said, we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn’t refuse."
Prosecutor resigns - reportedly over Abrego Garcia indictment
Ben Schrader, a former assistant U.S. attorney who headed the criminal division in the middle district of Tennessee, resigned after Garcia’s indictment without specifying the reason for his departure.
“Earlier today, after nearly 15 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, I resigned as Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee,” Schrader posted on social media. “It has been an incredible privilege to serve as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice, where the only job description I've ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons.”
ABC News reported Schrader quit over concerns the case against Garcia was being pursued for political reasons. The May 21 indictment was insealed in Nashville on June 6.
-Bart Jansen
Advocates push for fair trial
Advocates and attorneys for Abrego Garcia said they do not know if he is aware of the charges against him and urged the government to allow him to communicate with his lawyers and family.
“Kilmar is back. As the fight for Kilmar continues − the fight for justice, for his actual release," said Ama Frimpong, legal director of the CASA immigration rights organization. "Let him talk to his wife, let him talk to his children; his family has suffered enough.”
“We will be looking forward to Kilmar getting a fair trial, because he certainly has not gotten a fair trial in the court of public opinion,” said Chris Newman, Legal Director at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network Newman.
-Will Carless
Twists and turns of Kilmar Abrego Garcia case
On March 15, Abrego Garcia was flown with a group of hundreds of prisoners to El Salvador, where most were locked in the country’s infamous maximum security prison, known as “CECOT.” The Trump administration said the deportees, originally from El Salvador and Venezuela, were members of gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, though most had not been charged with crimes in the U.S.
On March 25, Abrego Garcia’s family filed a lawsuit challenging his removal. Days later, on March 31, the government acknowledged an “administrative error” in removing him.
The Maryland sheet metal worker, an undocumented immigrant, became the poster boy for what critics called Trump's assault on due process rights.
On April 10, a unanimous Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia's return to the United States. Administration officials claimed they couldn’t force a sovereign nation − El Salvador − to relinquish a prisoner, and that Abrego Garcia was a violent and dangerous criminal who shouldn’t be allowed back.
Meanwhile, a succession of Democratic members of Congress, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) travelled to El Salvador to demand Abrego Garcia’s return, citing his due process rights. Those efforts appeared fruitless until news broke June 6 that Abrego Garcia was back in the U.S. to face human trafficking charges.
“This was his full time job. Not a contractor," Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "He was a smuggler of humans and children and women.”
-Will Carless
Deportation case went to SCOTUS. What now?
After Bondi's press conference June 6, Justice Department attorneys filed a request to pause all deadlines in the federal civil case handled by Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return.
"Considering this development, the Court's preliminary injunction should be dissolved, and the underlying case should be dismissed as moot," the government requested.
DOJ said it would move next to dismiss the case, which reached the Supreme Court.
-Nick Penzenstadler
Noem rips the media for 'glorifying' Abrego Garcia
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted the news media and Democrats for “glorifying” Garcia.
She said in a post on social media the government has “overwhelming evidence” against him for charges of human smuggling and conspiracy.
“Justice awaits this Salvadoran man,” Noem said.
-Bart Jansen
Sen. Van Hollen says it's up to the courts
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, who visited Garcia in an El Salvador prison, said in a statement the Trump administration will have to make its case in a court of law − as it should have all along.
“For months the Trump administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution,” Van Hollen said. “Today they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States.”
-Bart Jansen
Lawyer slams the charges
“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him," Abrego Garcia's attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said.
"Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you're punished, not after. This is an abuse of power, not justice,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said. “The government should give him a full and fair trial in front of the same immigration judge who heard the case in 2019."
A 2019 court order by an immigration judge barred Abrego Garcia's deportation to his native country over concerns for his safety.
-Will Carless
Bondi links Abrego Garcia to a murder, but he isn't charged
Bondi told reporters a co-conspirator of Abrego Garcia's had claimed he abused undocumented women, that he solicited nude photographs and videos of a minor, and that he "played a role" in the murder of a rival gang member's mother.
Abrego Garcia was indicted on two charges of unlawful transport of undocumented immigrants for financial gain.
-Will Carless
Drug allegations
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia also transported narcotics on more than 100 trips between Texas and Maryland. He also smuggled minors, court documents allege.
“Abrego Garcia… transported undocumented aliens in an unsafe manner, including using reconfigured vehicles with after-market unattached seating rows, and they transported children on the floorboards of vehicles in order to maximize profits,” the indictment alleges.
-Nick Penzenstadler
Mistaken deportation
Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador's CECOT mega prison on March 15 in a move officials would later call an administrative "error." A 2019 court order barred his deportation to his native country due to security concerns.
Abrego Garcia will face federal human trafficking charges after a two-count indictment was filled in Tennessee in May.
"We should treat any of these charges with a high degree of suspicion and he should get a fair hearing in court because he isn’t getting one in the court of public opinion,” said Chris Newman, Legal Director at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which represents Abrego Garcia’s family.
Newman and Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Maryland, recently attempted to meet with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador and were denied access. Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, met with Abrego Garcia briefly in El Salvador.
"For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution," Van Hollen said in statement issued June 6. "Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States. As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights – and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.”
What does Abrego Garcia's indictment say?
A federal grand jury handed down the indictment on May 21 in Nashville, according to court records. The indictment was sealed until government lawyers filed to open it on Friday, June 6.
"From in or around 2016 through in or around 2025, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garica and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, conspired to bring undocumented aliens to the United States from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and elsewhere," the indictment reads. "Ultimately passing through Mexico before crossing into Texas."
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia is a member and associate of the MS-13 gang, a claim his family has denied.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia also transported firearms illegally purchased in Texas for distribution and resale in Maryland. It alleges Abrego Garcia would take undocumented immigrants' cell phones while being transported to ensure they would not contact anyone during the trip.
If convicted, Abrego Garcia would face 10 years in U.S. prison and a $250,000 fine.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Recap: Kilmar Abrego Garcia charged with human smuggling after return from El Salvador
Reporting by Erin Mansfield, Nick Penzenstadler, Will Carless and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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