Kilmar Abrago Garcia was returned to the United States on Friday to be indicted months after being deported by mistake for a prison in his home country, El Salvador. He was indicted in a Federal Court in Tennessee for involvement in the transport of illegal immigrants within the US territory.
According to the prosecution, Abago Garcia and others conspired between 2016 and 2025 to bring illegal immigrants from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Ecuador, who crossed Mexico before entering Texas. The jury pointed out that he made more than 100 trips, trafficking thousands of people. The indictment was issued on May 21, but remained confidential until this Friday.
Abreago Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, criticized illegal deportation and judicial process, stating that the government violated a court order by sending its client to El Salvador. “Due to due process of law, he should have had a chance to defend himself before being punished, not after,” he said. He also stressed that the case should be tried by the same immigration judge that analyzed the case in 2019.
The Trump administration claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, considered a foreign terrorist organization by the US, the accusation he denies. The man, the father of three, was arrested by immigration in Maryland on March 12 and deported three days later, despite a 2019 court order that prohibited his removal to El Salvador due to the risk of persecution.
Even admitting the error in deportation, the Trump government said it could not bring Vugo Garcia back, even after an order of the Supreme Court that determined the facilitation of the return. The controversy on the case is highlighted, raising debates on human rights and legal procedures in cases of immigration.
