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Kilmar Ábrego García, a 29-year-old originally from El Salvador, has been brought back to the U.S. to face criminal charges after he was wrongly deported to a prison in El Salvador in March. He now faces two serious federal charges.
Garcia had lived in the US since he was a teenager.
He is accused of helping move undocumented migrants by driving a van from Texas to other U.S. states over several years. The U.S. government says he was part of a long-running smuggling operation.
El Salvador agreed to send him back after the U.S. showed them an arrest warrant. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made this announcement on Friday. Ábrego García’s lawyer said the charges were “preposterous”.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the White House in April to help bring him back, the Trump administration delayed the process. Ábrego García had been placed in a prison in El Salvador with more than 250 other deportees.
A federal grand jury in Tennessee recently charged him with conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants and unlawful transportation of them. Prosecutors say he was a key player in moving thousands of people, including alleged gang members from MS-13.
He was not charged with gang crimes, but Bondi accused him of also smuggling drugs and weapons. He denies being a gang member and has never been convicted of any crimes in the U.S. or El Salvador.
He had earlier been granted protection from deportation by a judge in 2019, due to the danger he might face from gangs in El Salvador. But in March, during a major immigration crackdown, the Trump administration used an old wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport him.
He was sent to a prison in El Salvador known for harsh conditions. At first, officials said it was a mistake, but the government still did not bring him back.
His lawyer, Simon Sandoval Moshenberg, said at a press event that the government violated court orders by secretly deporting him and was now trying to punish him instead of fixing its error.
President Trump called Ábrego García a “bad guy” and supported the decision to bring him back for trial. President Trump previously claimed that Garcia had gang tattoos on his hands and insisted on showing reporters photographs of the same, which had already been shown to have been digitally edited.
Senator Chris Van Hollen said the case is about protecting constitutional rights, not just about one person.
Ábrego García appeared in court in Nashville, Tennessee. His next court date is June 13. The U.S. wants him to remain in custody until the trial because they believe he might try to flee and is dangerous.
Source: BBC.
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