Washington: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was flown back to the United States on Friday to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
Abrego Garcia’s return marks a pivotal moment in a case widely scrutinized by critics of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, who have argued that the administration ignored civil liberties amid its intensified deportation efforts.
The 29-year-old Salvadoran, whose wife and young child residing in Maryland are U.S. citizens, appeared in federal court in Nashville Friday evening. His arraignment is scheduled for June 13, when he is expected to enter a plea. Until then, he remains in federal custody.
Bondi stated that if convicted, Abrego Garcia would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence. The Trump administration has claimed Abrego Garcia was linked to the MS-13 gang—a charge his lawyers vehemently deny.
Officials have framed the federal indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Tennessee, as validation of their aggressive immigration enforcement. President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “The man has a horrible past, and I could see a decision being made, bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is,” adding that the Justice Department decided to repatriate Abrego Garcia.
According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia collaborated with at least five co-conspirators in a smuggling ring that facilitated the illegal entry of immigrants into the United States and transported them from the U.S.-Mexico border to destinations within the country. The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia frequently picked up migrants in Houston, making over 100 trips between Texas and Maryland from 2016 through 2025.
The charges also include accusations of transporting firearms and drugs. One co-conspirator in the ring was reportedly involved in a 2021 tractor-trailer accident in Mexico, where 50 migrants died after the vehicle overturned.
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, described the charges as “fantastical” and a “kitchen sink” of allegations, asserting they are based on statements from individuals currently facing prosecution or serving prison time. He questioned the incentives given to those witnesses.
The indictment also precipitated a high-level resignation at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville. Ben Schrader, chief of the criminal division for the Middle District of Tennessee, resigned in protest. Schrader, a 15-year veteran, reportedly grew uneasy with the administration’s actions, with the indictment of Abrego Garcia cited as the “final straw,” according to a source familiar with the matter. Schrader has declined to comment publicly.
Notably, Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15, more than two months prior to the filing of charges. He was briefly detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center, despite a 2019 U.S. immigration judge’s ruling barring his deportation to El Salvador due to likely gang-related persecution.
Bondi revealed that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia after U.S. officials presented an arrest warrant. “The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring,” she said during a press briefing.
Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Friday to keep Abrego Garcia detained until trial. They cited an unnamed co-conspirator’s claim that Abrego Garcia joined MS-13 in El Salvador by murdering a rival gang member’s mother, though he is not charged with murder in the indictment.
Prosecutors warned that Abrego Garcia could face up to 10 years in prison for each migrant he is convicted of transporting, potentially resulting in a life sentence.
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Tensions With the Courts
The case has become emblematic of growing friction between the Trump administration and the judiciary, which has blocked several of the president’s signature immigration policies. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently upheld the administration’s tough stance in other immigration rulings.
After Abrego Garcia’s legal team challenged his deportation, the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate his return. Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the government’s “warrantless arrest,” noting no justification had been given.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has launched an inquiry into whether the Trump administration complied with court orders regarding Abrego Garcia’s return, following accusations by his lawyers of government stonewalling. Critics feared the administration might defy judicial directives openly.
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In a Friday court filing, Justice Department attorneys informed Judge Xinis that Abrego Garcia’s return satisfied the order to bring him back.
Sandoval-Moshenberg, however, argued that the return did not fulfill government obligations, insisting his client should be placed into immigration proceedings before the same judge who ruled on his 2019 case.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, released a statement praising the administration’s eventual compliance with court orders and due process rights. “The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along,” Van Hollen said.
