Kilmar Abrego Garcia charged with migrant smuggling after return from El Salvador

USA Today

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia charged with migrant smuggling after return from El Salvador
On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S. He now faces human trafficking charges. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy discusses some of the concerns from LGBTQ+ advocates this Pride Month over Trump administration actions. The Supreme Court blocks the disclosure of DOGE operations. Plus, the court lets DOGE access Social Security data. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers talks about new Trump executive orders centered on flying cars and high speed air travel. Nonalcoholic beer is on track to become the world's second-largest beer category.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Saturday, June 7th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today the latest on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the country and the charges he faces. Plus, how advocates call out the Trump administration over some of its moves ahead of Pride Month, and new executive orders have to do with the future of flying cars.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been returned to the US. The man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration will now face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the US.
Pam Bondi:
The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring.
Taylor Wilson:
That's Attorney General Pam Bondi. If convicted, Abrego Garcia would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, according to Bondi. The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny. Trump said the Justice Department made a decision "to bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is."
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on social media he sent Abrego Garcia to the US at the Trump administration's request. His explanation came after the administration spent weeks telling judges it could not compel Abrego Garcia's return.
His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said the government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. He said that now, after months of delay and secrecy, they're bringing him back not to correct their error but to prosecute him. You can read more with the link in today's show notes.
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With Pride Month in full swing, LGBTQ+ advocates see some of President Trump's actions as bullying. I spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy for more. Swapna, always a pleasure having you stop by. How are you today?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Very good. Thank you, Taylor, for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
This is Pride Month, but the Education Department has billed it Title IX Month. Why are advocates upset about this?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So on his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two genders: male and female. So earlier this month, the education department announced that it was recognizing June as a Title IX month to mark the 53rd anniversary of it becoming a law.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational setting that receives federal funding. So now the Biden administration rule, which extended existing protections on the basis of sex to include gender identity, is seen as failing to protect women, which they say was the true purpose of Title IX.
Taylor Wilson:
Advocates are concerned about a number of other Trump actions during Pride Month. Let's talk about this move to take away Harvey Milk's name from a Navy ship. Just remind us, Swapna, who Harvey Milk was and how the administration is handling this.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, having won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was a civil rights activist and also a Navy veteran who was pushed out of the Navy in the mid-1950s due to his sexual orientation. So earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the US Navy to rename an oil tanker that was named after him. A Pentagon spokesperson told USA TODAY that Hegseth just wants all the names on Department of Defense assets to reflect the president's priorities.
Taylor Wilson:
We know gender-affirming care has been in and out of the news for years. What is the FBI doing as it pertains to looking for tipsters on this front?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So earlier this month, the FBI posted on X asking people for tips on providers who offer gender-affirming care to minors. They asked for tips on hospitals, clinics, practitioners performing these surgical procedures on children.
This, of course, reflects Trump's January executive order, which directs federal agencies to take action against hospitals that continue to provide such care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. And so, the executive order, in fact, characterized this kind of gender-affirming care as chemical and surgical mutilation.
Taylor Wilson:
Is Trump an outlier with his approach here, Swapna? How does he compare historically on Pride issues?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So the federal government first honored Pride Month on the 30th anniversary of Stonewall in 1999. This was under President Bill Clinton. And so, following that, the next two Democratic administrations, which included President Barack Obama and President Biden, they continue doing this, recognizing June as Pride Month. But when you look at the Republican administrations of Presidents George W. Bush or the first term of President Trump, they did not recognize June as Pride Month. So it's basically been along party line so far.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thanks, Swapna.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Thank you, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
The Department of Government Efficiency does not have to turn over records and answer questions about its operations for now. That's what the Supreme Court said yesterday, intervening in a dispute between the Trump administration and a watchdog group over DOGE's role in slashing federal jobs and remaking the federal government. In a brief unsigned order, the majority said separation of powers concerns council, judicial deference, and restraint when directing the executive branch to hand over internal communications.
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President Trump's newest executive orders aim to speed the development of new-age technology, including high-speed flights and flying cars. My colleague Dana Taylor spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent Francesca Chambers to learn more.
Dana Taylor:
Francesca, thanks for hopping on.
Francesca Chambers:
Thanks so much for having me.
Dana Taylor:
As part of President Trump's move here, he directed the FAA to allow manufacturers to begin testing flying cars. Let's start with that headline-grabbing decision.
Francesca Chambers:
Yeah, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that you're going to be able to get a flying car anytime soon. They'll still be quite expensive. However, this is something that the administration says that they're doing to try and speed that up and accelerate that timeline. The administration's saying on a call with reporters that they're very concerned that the United States, that once it had been a leader in aviation, is falling behind.
Dana Taylor:
He also directed the FAA to tackle commercial operations that retailers like Amazon have said are crucial to scaling drone deliveries and also for delivering medical supplies in hard to reach places. How else did he approach drones in this order?
Francesca Chambers:
In a series of executive orders that looked at those drone deliveries, as well as things like hypersonic flight, the president also established a task force that is set to review and propose solutions to threats to America's airspace from personal unmanned aircraft. He also asked his administration to step up enforcement of civil and criminal laws against drone operators. Now that could be drone operators who endanger the public or violate airspace restrictions. The administration said that this was coming in response to those drone sightings that took place over New Jersey, but also as it starts to look ahead to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Dana Taylor:
Meanwhile, he removed regulatory barriers, his administration says, or preventing high-speed passenger flights from being introduced in the country. A generation after the last Concorde flights, could similar rapid air travel make a return?
Francesca Chambers:
This is one of the parts of the executive order that had been most anticipated, because the ability to have overland supersonic flights, which the administration now says are sustainable and commercially viable, but federal regulations had grounded prior to this, were weakening the United States companies' competitiveness. But it's also something that they say that average Americans should care about, because if this were to be further developed, Americans could fly from places like New York to Los Angeles in potentially under four hours.
Dana Taylor:
Another order deals with supersonic technology instructing the FAA to establish a standard for noise certification. What should listeners know here?
Francesca Chambers:
Well, this goes back to the supersonic flights. That is something that has been standing in the way, the administration and the industry says, to Americans being able to have these high-speed flights that would go across the United States. So it isn't just the fact that they were banned, it had to do with sound restrictions as well that the administration now says that it will be lifting.
Dana Taylor:
Francesca Chambers is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Thank you for joining me, Francesca.
Francesca Chambers:
Thanks so much.
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Taylor Wilson:
Non-alcoholic beer is on track to become the world's second largest beer category. Beverage industry analysis firm IWSR found non-alcoholic beer volume jumped 9% last year, and it ranked number three by making up 2% of global volume, outranking wheat beers and stouts. The beer faces a big gap, though, below lagers, which is by far the largest beer category at 92% of global volume.
Still, non-alcoholic beer sales have been on the upward trend since 2018, according to the analysis firm. Between 2019 and 2024, non-alcoholic beer volume in the US grew 175%, moving the country's ranking from the category sixth largest market to third largest. Experts pointed to waning alcohol sales and growing health concerns as major drivers. Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in January released an advisory warning of the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk.
That same month, advertising and sales measurement technology firm NCSolutions released a survey that found 49% of Americans plan to drink less in 2025, up from 41% in 2024. You can take a closer look at some of this trend data and what folks around the industry are saying with a link in today's show notes.
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Coming up on Sunday, Jim Obergefell and partner John Author never thought of themselves as trailblazers or activists in the gay rights movement, but when their last-minute marriage in Maryland to declare their love before John's death wasn't recognized by their home state Ohio, their priorities changed.
Jim Obergefell:
So not something I ever thought would happen, but it's amazing what'll happen when you love someone enough, when you're willing to fight for what you know is right, and when you're angry.
Taylor Wilson:
Tune in for a moving conversation led by my colleague, national reporter Zach Wichter, with Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff on the Supreme Court case that paved the way for nationwide gay marriage. That's tomorrow beginning at 5:00 AM, Eastern Time, right here on this feed.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. If you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.