...
By Dan Gooding and Hannah Parry
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the United States to face criminal charges more than two months after being mistakenly deported to El Salvador, the Department of Justice confirmed Friday.
The 29-year-old has been indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press briefing that Abrego Garcia worked for nine years as a human trafficker.
"Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant, and they agreed to return him to our country," Bondi said. "We are grateful to President Bukele for agreeing to return him to our country to face these very serious charges. This is what American justice looks like."
Read More on U.S.
Abrego Garcia's legal team later said they had not been informed by the government about their client's return, finding out through the press.
"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," attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a statement. "Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you're punished, not after. This is an abuse of power, not justice."
Why It Matters
Abrego Garcia was among the 230 migrants who were deported to El Salvador in March, where they were initially at the maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
The Trump administration has faced increasing pressure from the courts and Democrats to return the El Salvadoran immigrant who had been living in Maryland since he arrived in the U.S. illegally in 2011.
...
What To Know
A sealed indictment, filed in a Tennessee federal court last month, states that 29-year-old Abrego Garcia is part of an elaborate, decade-long conspiracy to transport thousands of undocumented migrants, including children and some gang members, across the country from Texas, the DOJ said.
Abrego Garcia's story came to light following two deportation flights to El Salvador on March 15 under the Alien Enemies Act. A federal judge had ordered the planes to turn around amid concerns the immigrants had not been able to challenge their deportations in court. However, the flights continued.
Despite arguments by Abrego Garcia's wife and legal team that he was not an MS-13 gang member or criminal and had been working honestly in Maryland, Bondi alleged Friday that the Salvadoran had spent nine years working in a smuggling ring.
"This was his full-time job. Not a contractor," Bondi said. "He was a smuggler of humans, and children, and women."
The grand jury in Tennessee said Abrego Garcia made over 100 trips as part of the ring, moving immigrants across the U.S., including gang members. Bondi said co-conspirators had made the claims about Abrego Garcia.
Bondi said Abrego Garcia was part of the same ring linked to around 50 deaths in Mexico, when a tractor-trailer overturned in 2021, but he was not charged in relation to this.
Following questions about whether Abrego Garcia's return was in honor of court orders, the DOJ insisted that this was not the case, and his recovery from CECOT was due to the indictment against him.
Bondi said that, if convicted, Abrego Garcia would serve his sentence in the U.S. and then be returned to El Salvador.
What People Are Saying
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek in a statement: "The Justice Department's Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools.
"Abrego Garcia was never an innocent 'Maryland Man'– Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable. Abrego Garcia will now return to the United States to answer for his crimes and meet the full force of American justice.
"The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called 'journalist' who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia's victims. The Trump Administration will continue to hold criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Chris Newman, Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), in a statement sent to Newsweek: "This administration has shown a willful disregard for the constitution, our laws and due process. These extrajudicial renditions are proof that immigrants are being unfairly scapegoated and targeted to carry out an unjust political agenda. The government can't just disappear people it doesn't like or deem unworthy. If they do this to immigrants, who's next?"
Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, in a statement sent to Newsweek: "For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. 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."
Democratic Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks, on X, formerly Twitter: "Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported. Even the Supreme Court demanded this President follow the law and return him to the U.S. It is right that due process will be afforded to him."
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, in a statement emailed to Newsweek: "Today, the United States of America confronts Kilmar Abrego Garcia with overwhelming evidence— he is being indicted by a grand jury for human smuggling, including children, and conspiracy. Justice awaits this Salvadoran man."
What Happens Next
Abrego Garcia's legal team said he was appearing for a brief hearing in Tennessee today, with his wife awaiting a chance to speak with him.
Update 6/6/25, 4:33 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines