Kilmer Abrego Garcia’s supporters protested outside the Federal Court of Fred D. Thompson in Nashville on June 13, when Abrego Garcia made an arrest for the federal charges. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kilmer Abrego Garcia plead not guilty to the charge of smuggling two federal people on Friday, as El Salvador’s illegal deportation to prison sparked national debate over Trump’s administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, sitting next to a lawyer in the federal public defense attorney’s office, Abrego Garcia spoke only once through a translator. “I understand,” he said in response to the judge’s reading of the accusation.

Accusations against 29-year-old Abrego Garcia “Conspiracy to illegally transport illegal aliens for illegal interests” and “illegal transport for illegal transport of illegal aliens.”

Friday’s hearing relied primarily on the question of whether Abrego Garcia will be denied the opportunity to be released from prison despite trial, in downtown Nashville Federal Court.

Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes said she would take on the matter under recommendation. She said she would issue a written ruling on the prosecution’s allegation to continue detaining Abrego Garcia “early faster than late.”

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The criminal charges stem from a federal investigation opened to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia was pulled for speeding with nine Hispanic men behind the Chevrolet suburbs. Abrego Garcia was not arrested or charged in the case.

However, a recent Homeland Security investigation opened at a three-year-old stop has led to the charges he is currently facing, according to testimony on Friday.

The investigation tracked Abrego Garcia’s movements in an analysis of collaborative witnesses, license plate readers, and relied on a review of Tennessee traffic stop evidence.

US lawyer Rob McGuire argued that Abrego Garcia is dangerous to the community and members of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia has not been charged with gun crimes or crimes involving child victims.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers said the government’s lawsuit should be looked at through a “lens of doubt and skepticism” and questioned why it took three years.

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“The US government from DC to Tennessee is exaggerating,” said Dumaca Shabaz, one of Abrego Garcia’s public advocates.

“This is a card house built on unconfirmed reliability with unreliable and backed up support,” he said. “The only reason they are calling him dangerous now is to justify him denying the legitimate proceedings and exposing him to him with the cruel and inhuman punishment he has to cover up,” said Shabaz, who referenced Abrego Garcia’s infamous Salvador prison for nearly three months.

McGuire retorted that the charges against Abrego Garcia stem from following the facts. “I learned about this incident and all I tried to do is the right thing,” he said. “The fact is, I… I’ll tell them to whip the witnesses and commit perjury.”

“I understand that there are strong feelings on both sides about this incident,” he said.

The day’s hearing focused on government debates detaining Abrego Garcia until trial.

Evidence that a minor was present and potentially at risk in the event of a suspected misconduct of Abrego Garcia could pose legal justification to detain Abrego Garcia and the prosecutor, and the prosecutor presented allegations that included the safety of the minor. Abrego Garcia has not been charged with a crime related to a mild victim.

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However, prosecutors said a Homeland Security Department investigation into the circumstances behind traffic in 2022 revealed evidence that Abrego Garcia carried minor children, including himself, to cover his illegal activities.

For nine years, McGuire’s Abrego Garcia acted as a driver of human smuggling operations that involved illegally transporting domestic migrants to various points across the country.

McGuire cited a witness who described Abrego Garcia as a teenager a few years ago and described the list of passengers on the Tennessee Highway Patrol obtained during a traffic stop in 2022, saying it was sexual but not physical. One passenger listed his age as 15 years old.

“Immigrant transport is inherently dangerous,” McGuire said. “The defendant carried his child in an unsafe way.”

McGuire argued that Abrego Garcia is a flight risk and that his new notoriety can give him access to resources offered by those opposed to Trump’s immigration policy.

Judge Barbara Holmes, who presided over the case, called the flight risk discussion primarily “academic.”

Kilmer Abrego Garcia arrest in Nashville

Immigration officials have already put on hold Abrego Garcia, giving them the authority to immediately take custody if he is released from prison, she noted.

The only witness at Friday’s hearing was Peter Joseph, a special agent at the Department of Homeland Security, who said he was first assigned to investigate Abrego Garcia on April 28, three years after the state’s traffic stop.

By then, Abrego Garcia had been imprisoned inside the El Salvador Terrorist Confinement Prison Center. The Supreme Court ordered the federal government on April 10 to promote Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.

Joseph testified that he reviewed license plate reader software in several states that contradict Abrego Garcia’s statement about his move to troopers during a traffic stop in Tennessee.

He also testified that five confidential witnesses, including a conspirator in a long-standing human smuggling operation, had involved Abrego Garcia in the scheme.

Richard Tennant, another defense attorney for Abrego Garcia, noted that some of the witnesses who cooperated were putting their own freedom at stake.

Three witnesses participated in a cooperative transaction that could support ongoing criminal and immigration cases. Four of the five witnesses testified that they were from the same family.