The U.S. Homeland Security Agency was under surveillance behind Fred D. Thompson Federal as Kilmer Abrego Garcia was taken to Tennessee on criminal charges. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Federal prosecutors detailed legal debate on Monday regarding the detention up to the trial of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration.

Abrego Garcia was returned to Nashville from El Salvador on Friday and faced two criminal smuggling charges tied up by a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop.

He made a brief appearance in downtown Nashville late Friday and is scheduled to return to court this Friday for a formal complaint against him.

The hearing will also consider allegations by the Department of Justice to detain Abrego Garcia until the date of his trial, which has not yet been set.

The indictment of the Federal University Ju Trial, sealed on May 21 and published on June 6, charged with “conspiracy to illegally transport illegal aliens for illegal interests” and “financial interests of the illegal transport of illegal aliens of illegal aliens.”

Kilmer Abrego Garcia is accidentally deported to El Salvador prison to face federal charges in Nashville

Prosecutors said Abrego Garcia “deliberately and illegally transported thousands of undocumented aliens” for profit between 2016 and 2025.

Dumaka Shabaz, the federal government’s public defense counsel appointed to represent Garcia in a criminal case, declined to comment on the charges Monday.

“We don’t tend to make a statement on this day,” Shabaz said in an email.

The criminal charges stem from a November 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, court records show.

Abrego Garcia was driving an SUV with nine Hispanic men when he was pulled for a speeding in the Interstate 40 in Putnam County, about 80 miles east of Nashville, court records said. He was not charged in the case.

Prosecutors now argue that further investigations reveal a stop where Abrego Garcia illegally smuggles immigrants in the United States.

Abrego Garcia faces a potentially long sentence. It is a prison for each individual who is allegedly transported and is a prison for up to 10 years.

“Constitutional Immersion”: Abrego Garcia’s lawyer refuses to drop his case against us

Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, was sent to El Salvador Prison within days, along with many other detainees until a previous traffic stop on March 12th this year.

Abrego Garcia, an immigrant from El Salvador, received an order from the immigration court in 2019 to allow him to live in the United States, specifically banning the federal government from deporting him to El Salvador, where he said he feared gang violence.

A memo from prosecutors seeking Abrego Garcia’s detention until trial filed in federal court on Monday argues there is a “serious risk” for Abrego Garcia and/or anyone acting on his behalf, to interfere with and/or threaten witnesses against him.

They also argued that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk and a risk to the community.

In their memo, prosecutors said they plan to file allegations that children without legal immigration status will be transported and “used in an unsafe way” to avoid detection of Abrego Garcia’s illegal smuggling activities.

Abrego Garcia has not been charged with a crime involving the illegal transport of a child.

Prosecutors also acknowledged that if Abrego Garcia is released despite trial, he would be taken to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody immediately and likely face further lawsuits before the immigration court.

Nevertheless, they insisted that if he was not taken to ice detention, Abrego Garcia would have “a great reason to escape.”

US Magistrate Barbara Holmes, who presided over Friday’s brief hearing, gave Abrego’s attorneys a legal response until Wednesday.

Supplementary Memorandum to assist government claims for detention