Protesters hold a photo of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man gathering at Kilmer Abrego Garcia to protest the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador outside of a permanent mission to the United Nations on April 24, 2025 (pictured by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was accidentally deported to his hometown of El Salvador three months ago, was returned to the US Friday and faced federal charges, Attorney General Pam Bondy said.
The Abrego Garcia case was a flashpoint amid a debate about what the rights to a legitimate process protect immigrants from deportation after federal officials admitted he was sent to the infamous El Salvador Mega prison for administrative errors.
Still, President Donald Trump, El Salvador President Naive Buquere, Bondi and other administration officials said Abrego Garcia could not be released because Abrego Garcia had not produced any public evidence.
In a gag with an Air Force reporter on Friday night, Trump refused to say whether it was his decision to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States, according to a White House Pool reporter.
“He should never have been returned,” Trump said. “That’s a disaster.”
Bondi said on Friday that a federal warrant in which Abrego Garcia was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking forced Salvador’s release from the prison system.
“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” Bondy said at a Justice Department press conference Friday afternoon. “He was a smuggler of humans, women and children.”
10 pages of prosecutionThe filing in the Central District of Tennessee comes after the Federal Ju judge prosecuted him on May 21 for transporting US immigrants without legal approval within the country.
Chris Newman, a lawyer representing the Abrego Garcia family, said at a virtual press event on Friday that he remains skeptical of the federal accusation stayed at Abrego Garcia.
“We can all tell you that the accusations that are levelled against him should be treated with high level of suspicion,” Newman said. “He clearly has not been heard in the court of public opinion, so we should make sure he gets fair (trial) in the court.”
Bondi did not elaborate when Abrego Garcia’s investigation began, but said the federal accusations include “recently discovered facts.”
“This is what American justice will look like when he completes his sentence and we expect him to be returned to his native Salvador,” Bondy said.
Nashville’s WKRN said Abrego Garcia’s arrest is scheduled for 10am on Friday.
Protest more than the right process
Abrego Garcia’s infamous Mega Prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or the illegal deportation to Secott, sparked public protests as the Trump administration ordered the return of the Bertersville man and clashed with a federal court that resisted the orders of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Despite the orders, Trump administration officials appear to have not taken any official steps to secure the release of Abrego Garcia, and sometimes appeared to be experiencing rebellion against the court.
Bondi thanked the El Salvadoran government for releasing Abrego Garcia on Friday in compliance with the warrant.
The Trump administration has itDiscussed for months in federal court in Maryland Because Abrego Garcia is under El Salvador’s control, despite a $15 million agreement between the US and the Salvador government, it is not possible to repay approximately 300 men from the US and detained by CECOT. Abrego Garcia had been transferred to another El Salvador prison before his release.
Abrego GasiaThere was deportation protection Since 2019, he has been in his home country of El Salvador.
He was drawn to him in March by US immigration and customs enforcement agents, informing him that his immigration status had changed. He was later placed on March 15th at CECOT on one of three deportation flights.
Trump administrationI’ve admitted to him removal It was a “adjustment error,” but ever since, Abrego Garcia has argued that he is the leader of the MS-13 gang without creating evidence in the federal civil court overseeing the lawsuits that challenge his removal.
Maryland US Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to report on Abrego Garcia’s release and return to the United States, and welcomed the news as a victory in due process rights.
“As I have said repeatedly, this is not about humans, it is about his constitutional rights and all rights,” Maryland Democrats said in a statement. “The administration will have to make that claim in court, as it should have been there forever.”
William J. Ford contributed to this report.
