Man mistakenly deported to El Salvador brought back to US to face charges
Kilmar Abrego Garcia faces charges related to what US President Donald Trump's government said was a large human smuggling operation that brought immigrants into the country illegally.
His abrupt release from El Salvador is the latest twist in a saga that sparked a months-long standoff between Trump administration officials and the courts over a deportation that officials initially acknowledged was done in error but then continued to stand behind in apparent defiance of orders by judges to facilitate his return to the US.
The development occurred after US officials presented El Salvador President Nayib Bukele with an arrest warrant for federal charges in Tennessee accusing Abrego Garcia of playing a key role in smuggling immigrants into the country for money. He is expected to be prosecuted in the US and, if convicted, will be returned to his home country of El Salvador at the conclusion of the case, officials said.
'This is what American justice looks like,' US attorney general Pam Bondi said in announcing Abrego Garcia's return and the unsealing of a grand jury indictment.
Abrego Garcia's lawyers called the case 'baseless'.
'There's no way a jury is going to see the evidence and agree that this sheet metal worker is the leader of an international MS-13 smuggling conspiracy,' lawyer Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
Federal magistrate judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tennessee, determined that Abrego Garcia will be held in custody until at least next Friday, when there will be an arraignment and detention hearing.
Abrego Garcia appeared in court wearing a short-sleeved, white, buttoned shirt. When asked if he understood the charges, he told the judge through an interpreter: 'Yes. I understand.'
Democrats and immigrant rights groups had pressed for Abrego Garcia's release, with several politicians – including senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, where Abrego Garcia had lived for years – even travelling to El Salvador to visit him. A federal judge had ordered him to be returned in April and the US Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by directing the government to work to bring him back.
But the news that Abrego Garcia, who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation to his native country over fears he would face persecution from local gangs, was being brought back for the purpose of prosecution was greeted with dismay by his lawyers.
The case also prompted the resignation of a top supervisor in the US attorney's office in Nashville, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.
Ben Schrader, who was chief of the office's criminal division, did not explain the reason for his resignation but posted to social media around the time the indictment was being handed down, saying: 'It has been an incredible privilege to serve as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice, where the only job description I've ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Presidential candidate shot and seriously wounded in Colombia, reports say
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Jared Leto denies sexual misconduct after facing accusations from multiple women
Jared Leto has been accused by a number of women of "behaving inappropriately" when they were teenagers, with claims he exposed himself and made sexual comments. Leto has denied all allegations made against him Jared Leto has been accused of 'inappropriateness' by a number of women in a report. The 53-year-old American singer and actor has been in the spotlight since the early 1990s. He has had roles in iconic TV shows including My So-Called Life and WeCrashed, films including Blade Runner 2049 and Dallas Buyers Club, and as the frontman of rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. Having been regarded as a Hollywood and chart heartthrob around the world, the star is now facing damaging accusations - which a spokesperson has denied. An investigation by Air Mail magazine - a luxury lifestyle outlet edited by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter - has claimed nine women have accused the star "behaving inappropriately" when they were in their teens. One woman claims the actor approached her in a Los Angeles cafe in 2006 when she was 16 and asked for her number. She claims he then called her "in the middle of the night" and tried to get her to attend a party - which she says she declined, adding: "I didn't even have a driver's license." The woman claims he then called her regularly for the following three weeks, allegedly "Always at one, two, three A.M" and claims the conversations: "Turned sexual. He'd ask things like, 'Have you ever had a boyfriend? Have you ever sucked a d**k?'' A second woman claims he also approached her when she was 16 and acquired her number claims his conversations would occasionally be "flirtatious" - and that he once walked out in front of her completely naked when she was 17 when she was at his home. A third, described as having an "on-off affair" with the star claimed: 'He'd be sweet, then suddenly really demeaning. It was a switch.' A further woman alleges that the star exposed himself to her when she was at his home and "started masturbating" when she was 18. She claims he told her: "I want you to spit on it." The Air Mail article accuses Leto of approaching younger women and claims it was "known" in Hollywood that he liked younger women. Another woman told the publication: ' I remember being so physically ill to the point of throwing up when I passed billboards … for his films,' one woman tells me, 'and just wondering how everybody in L.A. knows.' The Mirror has contacted Leto's representatives for comment. While Air Mail adds that a representative of the star denied all allegations made against him in their report. Leto was once engaged to actress Cameron Diaz - who he was in a relationship with from 1999 until 2003. They were engaged in 2000 until their split three years later. He later dated Russian model Valery Kaufman from 2015 to 2022. He has never married - and has been romantically linked to a number of women in the past, including Scarlett Johansson and Paris Hilton.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
AP PHOTOS: Protesters tear-gassed in Los Angeles after federal immigration arrests
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
