Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in Tennessee courtroom Friday with ABC

Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in Tennessee courtroom Friday with ABC

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who was mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador, appeared in a Tennessee courtroom on Friday. Abrego Garcia is now facing criminal charges for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the United States [1].

The federal grand jury indicted Abrego Garcia on two counts, charging him with participating in a conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country. The conspiracy, which spanned nearly a decade, involved the transport of thousands of non-citizens, including children, from Mexico and Central America. Among those allegedly transported were members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 [1].

Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation due to fear of persecution. His wife and attorneys deny that he is an MS-13 member. The Trump administration's move to criminally prosecute Abrego Garcia is seen as an aggressive step to gather information about his background [1].

Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison but was later believed to have been transferred to a different facility in the country. The criminal investigation that led to the charges was launched in April as federal authorities scrutinized the circumstances of a 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol [1].

The Justice Department has been investigating the incident, and federal agents visited a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama to question Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon who was the registered owner of the vehicle Abrego Garcia was driving when stopped on Interstate 40 east of Nashville. Hernandez-Reyes, who is currently serving a 30-month sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a prior felony conviction for illegal transportation of aliens, allegedly told investigators that he previously operated a "taxi service" based in Baltimore and hired Abrego Garcia to transport undocumented migrants [1].

Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, stated that her husband sometimes transported groups of fellow construction workers between job sites. She emphasized that Abrego Garcia is currently imprisoned without contact with the outside world and cannot respond to the claims [1].

The Trump administration has acknowledged in court filings that Abrego Garcia's removal to El Salvador in March was in error, as it violated a U.S. immigration court order in 2019 that shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to his native country. An immigration judge had determined that Abrego Garcia would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had allegedly terrorized him and his family [1].

Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S. to face the charges following high-level diplomatic discussions between the Trump administration and the government of El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland that ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. [1].

References:
[1] https://abcnews.go.com/US/mistakenly-deported-kilmar-abrego-garcia-back-us-face/story?id=121333122
[2] https://6abc.com/post/kilmar-abrego-garcia-back-us-face-criminal-charges-sources/16678515/