Kilmar Abrego Garcia case: Judge denies detention request
Abrego Garcia was thrust into the national spotlight when the Trump administration mistakenly deported him to El Salvador in March in violation of a court order.
Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker and father of three who had lived in Maryland for a decade before he was deported, has pleaded not guilty to charges he transported undocumented immigrants for financial gain.
Prosecutors had argued that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent gang MS-13 and could flee or intimidate other witnesses if he is released while awaiting trial. Abrego Garcia denies he is a member of the gang and had contended that the charges don't justify holding him in jail.
Abrego Garcia's deportation in March turned him into a key player in the debate over Trump's hardline immigration policy.
Government lawyers acknowledged in court records that he had been erroneously deported - an "administrative error" was the official explanation - even though an immigration judge's court order had barred his deportation back to native land.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered the administration to facilitate his return. The Supreme Court upheld that ruling, but officials resisted bringing him back until he was indicted in May.
The human smuggling charges are tied to a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022. Police say Abrego Garcia was driving a Chevrolet Suburban with nine other passengers when he was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 40 about 80 miles east of Nashville. Police questioned Abrego Garcia and his passengers but let them go without filing any charges.
A federal grand jury in Nashville indicted Abrego Garcia on the human smuggling charges on May 21 while he was still being held in a prison in El Salvador. The indictment alleges that, from 2016 through 2025, Abrego Garcia and other unnamed people conspired to bring undocumented migrants into the United States from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and elsewhere, passing through Mexico before crossing into Texas.
Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia? The answer is found on the streets where he lived and worked
Prosecutors say Abrego Garcia's role in the conspiracy was typically transporting people once they were within the United States, typically picking them up in the Houston area.
If convicted, Abrego Garcia could face up to 10 years in prison for each person transported. Prosecutors allege he made more than 100 trips.
Following his indictment, the Trump administration flew Abrego Garcia back to the United States to face the charges even though it had insisted for weeks that it had no authority to bring him back.
Follow Michael Collins on X @mcollinsNEWS.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries
A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations. The high court majority did not detail its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. All three liberal justices dissented from the order. The high court's action came after immigration officials put eight people on a plane to South Sudan in May. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found that violated his court order giving people a chance to argue they could be in danger of torture if sent away from their home countries. The migrants from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. and immigration officials have said that they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries. Authorities instead landed the plane at a U.S. naval base in Djibouti, where the migrants were housed in a converted shipping container and the officers guarding them faced rough conditions even as immigration attorneys waited for word from their clients. The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Republican President Donald Trump's administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.
Rhyl Journal
3 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Series of public inquiries on Troubles incidents ‘not the way forward'
He came under questioning over the Government's handling of legacy cases during a meeting of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Monday. Mr Benn insisted that a reformed Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) will be able to deal with the cases. The body led by Sir Declan Morgan, a former lord chief justice for Northern Ireland, was set up by the former government's Legacy Act after scores of legacy inquests and other court cases relating to the Troubles were halted. The Kingsmill massacre and the Guildford pub bombings are among cases it is currently looking at. Mr Benn told MPs they are working to change disclosure arrangements and to make it compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 'In the end, we're not going to deal with legacy with a whole series of public inquiries,' he said. 'We're doing all this work to try and create a body which is capable of delivering justice for all, information for all, answers for all. 'That is what I am trying to do at the moment because of the incompatibilities identified.' He was asked about his decision not to call a public inquiry into the circumstances around the murder of GAA official Sean Brown in 1997. In May the UK Government confirmed it will seek a Supreme Court appeal over a court ruling that ordered it to hold a public inquiry into Mr Brown's murder. The 61-year-old then-chairman of Wolfe Tones GAA Club in the Co Londonderry town of Bellaghy was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997. No-one has ever been convicted of his killing. Preliminary inquest proceedings last year heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents. It was also alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning. Asked about Mr Brown's case, Mr Benn told MPs: 'It's an awful, awful case. 'The murder of Sean Brown was shocking, deeply violent, and this has caused immense suffering to the family, to his widow Bridie and to the wider community, including the GAA family, because of the role that he undertook. 'But I came to the conclusion that the commission reformed would be capable of looking into it, and there's an issue of principle here in respect to the court ruling. 'Up until this moment, the courts accepted that it is for governments to decide whether public inquiries are ordered, not for the courts. 'What the courts have tended to say is, this is the test that has to be met, the way in which the government chooses to meet that test is a matter for governments to decide. 'There is a margin of appreciation that is made available. 'In this particular case, the court has decided to order a public inquiry. 'We're seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court because of that fundamental principle, which is, courts do not order public inquiries, governments do, and that is very important because of the nature of the mandatory order I am not able to do anything else other than order a public inquiry, which I made it clear that the Government is not going to do, because I believe there's another means of dealing with this case.' Mr Benn said there are five other cases that are in the same position. 'People say the Sean Brown case is unique. All murders are unique and uniquely painful for the family, but it is not a unique case,' he said. 'This is not a unique case, and I would also say we are not going to deal with legacy by having a whole series of public inquiries. 'That is not a way forward. That is why we have to make the reform of the commission to win public confidence. 'To make it ECHR compliant is so important because then you have a mechanism that you can use to deal with all of them and all of us, the committee, the whole team, everybody needs to be concerned about justice for everyone.' He added: 'It is open to the Brown family to go to the commission today, the commission will start work on investigating.'
South Wales Guardian
3 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Series of public inquiries on Troubles incidents ‘not the way forward'
He came under questioning over the Government's handling of legacy cases during a meeting of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Monday. Mr Benn insisted that a reformed Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) will be able to deal with the cases. The body led by Sir Declan Morgan, a former lord chief justice for Northern Ireland, was set up by the former government's Legacy Act after scores of legacy inquests and other court cases relating to the Troubles were halted. The Kingsmill massacre and the Guildford pub bombings are among cases it is currently looking at. Mr Benn told MPs they are working to change disclosure arrangements and to make it compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 'In the end, we're not going to deal with legacy with a whole series of public inquiries,' he said. 'We're doing all this work to try and create a body which is capable of delivering justice for all, information for all, answers for all. 'That is what I am trying to do at the moment because of the incompatibilities identified.' He was asked about his decision not to call a public inquiry into the circumstances around the murder of GAA official Sean Brown in 1997. In May the UK Government confirmed it will seek a Supreme Court appeal over a court ruling that ordered it to hold a public inquiry into Mr Brown's murder. The 61-year-old then-chairman of Wolfe Tones GAA Club in the Co Londonderry town of Bellaghy was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997. No-one has ever been convicted of his killing. Preliminary inquest proceedings last year heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents. It was also alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning. Asked about Mr Brown's case, Mr Benn told MPs: 'It's an awful, awful case. 'The murder of Sean Brown was shocking, deeply violent, and this has caused immense suffering to the family, to his widow Bridie and to the wider community, including the GAA family, because of the role that he undertook. 'But I came to the conclusion that the commission reformed would be capable of looking into it, and there's an issue of principle here in respect to the court ruling. 'Up until this moment, the courts accepted that it is for governments to decide whether public inquiries are ordered, not for the courts. 'What the courts have tended to say is, this is the test that has to be met, the way in which the government chooses to meet that test is a matter for governments to decide. 'There is a margin of appreciation that is made available. 'In this particular case, the court has decided to order a public inquiry. 'We're seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court because of that fundamental principle, which is, courts do not order public inquiries, governments do, and that is very important because of the nature of the mandatory order I am not able to do anything else other than order a public inquiry, which I made it clear that the Government is not going to do, because I believe there's another means of dealing with this case.' Mr Benn said there are five other cases that are in the same position. 'People say the Sean Brown case is unique. All murders are unique and uniquely painful for the family, but it is not a unique case,' he said. 'This is not a unique case, and I would also say we are not going to deal with legacy by having a whole series of public inquiries. 'That is not a way forward. That is why we have to make the reform of the commission to win public confidence. 'To make it ECHR compliant is so important because then you have a mechanism that you can use to deal with all of them and all of us, the committee, the whole team, everybody needs to be concerned about justice for everyone.' He added: 'It is open to the Brown family to go to the commission today, the commission will start work on investigating.'
