Man wrongly deported despite court order faces federal charges

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in Mar. 2025 despite a 2019 immigration court order shielding him from removal.

On Jun. 6, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador.

Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on Jun. 13, 2025 to conspiracy to transport aliens and unlawful transportation of aliens for monetary gain.

Body-camera footage from a Nov. 2022 Tennessee traffic stop shows Garcia driving a vehicle with nine passengers; officers found $1,400 in an envelope.

Federal prosecutors allege Garcia and co-conspirators transported thousands of undocumented immigrants in a years-long smuggling operation.

The human-smuggling charges against Garcia were filed under seal after his wrongful deportation, suggesting retroactive prosecution.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes is presiding over Garcia’s federal case and will issue a detention decision soon.

Ben Schrader, chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, resigned over the decision to prosecute Garcia.

After deportation, Garcia was held at CECOT, a maximum-security prison in El Salvador known for detaining alleged gang members.