Politics
NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia Faces Justice After Returning To US
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran at the center of a monthslong controversy stemming from his deportation by federal immigration authorities, has returned to face justice in the U.S.
Since being deported back to his home country, the former Maryland resident and illegal immigrant has benefited from a wave of outrage by Democrats who held up his case as an example of draconian tactics they claim U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement has enacted under the Trump administration, culminating in a reversal that has seen him returned to Tennessee where he was stopped three years ago for suspected human trafficking.
At a preliminary hearing on Friday, Garcia, 26, said through his lawyers that he understands the two counts he is facing — one count each of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain. He pleaded not guilty to both.
Federal prosecutors are seeking to convict Garcia following a 2022 traffic stop where state police suspected he was driving seven individuals from Texas to Maryland as part of a nationwide human smuggling operation. Garcia admitted to driving the truck of a known human trafficker, and the seven individuals in the vehicle carried no luggage with them.
Lawyers for Garcia petitioned U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Holmes to grant his freedom pending trial, saying their client poses no flight risk, Fox News reported.
“Mr. Abrego Garcia asks the Court for what he has been denied the past several months – due process,” his lawyers said, adding he has not “systematically engaged in international travel in the recent past.”
U.S. Justice Department attorneys opposed the motion, saying Garcia “would have enormous reason to flee” before a trial is underway.
Garcia’s family sued the Trump administration after he was arrested by immigration authorities in March and deported to El Salvador. A speedy court order instructed the Trump administration not to remove Garcia from the country, but officials say Garcia’s plane was already in international airspace by the time they received the ruling.
Advocates for Garcia have also pointed to a 2019 ruling that he could not be deported to El Salvador, a fact that CNN’s Jake Tapper unsuccessfully sought to point out in a testy interview on Thursday. Allies of Trump say by returning him to the U.S. to stand trial, the president is going above and beyond respecting the ruling, rather than deporting him to any other country without his day in court.
The government’s case hinges on the word of a confidential informant who claimed Garcia is a member of the ultra-violent MS-13, citing a New York chapter of the gang where Garcia never lived. Since the outcry began, DHS officials have produced social services records indicating that the ex-husband of Garcia’s girlfriend at one point told social workers that his ex is “dating a gang member” in an attempt to keep his children away from Garcia.
Garcia’s family, as well as his ex-wife, have maintained his innocence. The ex-wife, who previously filed for a 2021 restraining order on the basis of Garcia’s alleged angry temper and violent behavior, has since retracted those statements.
