Kilmar Abrego, the Salvadoran deported "by mistake," returns to the U.S. for trial.
The man, who had been detained until now at Cecot, has been accused of transporting people into the country illegally.
WashingtonKilmar Abrego García, the Salvadoran man deported "by mistake" to the Cecot mega-prison in El Salvador by the Donald Trump administration, landed in the United States this Friday to stand trial for transporting undocumented immigrants, according to ABC News. Attorney General Pam Bondi explained to the press that "Abrego García has landed in the United States to face justice" after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly being part of a network that operated to illegally bring members of the MS-13 criminal gang into the country.
Abreggo García's return came as a surprise. His attorney, Simon Sandoval, explained in an emergency press conference that his client is currently in Tennessee "on federal charges that are completely fabricated." Sandoval also explained that at no point had the administration notified them of Abreggo García's return: "We learned about it from the news." According to the lawyer, "what happened today is an abuse of power and is contrary to the corresponding judicial process." He also explained that during his confinement in Cecot, his client had no right to calls or visits with him.
"Now it will come to light how he was treated at Cecot. He is one of the first inmates to leave Cecot, in the entire history of the mega-prison, and it will be very interesting to know how he was treated during the first few days before the Salvadoran authorities realized he was a special case," Sando emphasized. of migrants in the penitentiary center in El Salvador. Cecot is in the spotlight for the treatment its inmates receive. Several international organizations have denounced the violation of human rights by the Salvadoran authorities inside the prison.
Abrego García had been expelled in the deportation flight of March 15, where more than 200 migrants, Venezuelans and Salvadorans, were sent to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. Abrego García arrived in the United States in 2011, fleeing the maras Salvadorans to seek asylum. He is a legal resident of the US and has been judicially protected from deportation since 2019. As his lawyers explained at the time of his arrest, there was no credible reason to accuse their client of being a member of the MS-13 criminal gang.
Later, in a Kafkaesque response, the Justice Department acknowledged that it had deported him "due to an administrative error" and had "no power" to return him. The case of Abreggo García is a clear example of the lack of judicial review suffered by people who were subjected to the 1789 rule for accusations of belonging to the MS-13 and El Tren de Aragua criminal gangs.
Abrego García's family filed a legal appeal in federal court in Maryland, where Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration to return him immediately. The case It was escalated to the Supreme Court who, in an unsigned order, told the government to facilitate the man's return. Trump has since continued to stonewall.
Chris van Hollen, the Democratic senator from Maryland who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, said in a statement Friday that the Trump administration "has finally caved to our demands for compliance with the court orders and the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States." to plead his case in court, just as he should have done from the beginning,” Van Hollen said.
The Justice Department indictment alleges that Abrego Garcia worked with at least five others to smuggle migrants into the United States illegally and then transported them across the border to other destinations within the country. According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia often picked up migrants in Houston and made more than 100 trips between Texas and Maryland between 2016 and 2025.
The Trump administration’s indictment charges Abrego Garcia and two unidentified co-workers with transporting weapons in Maryland. Additionally, it says, Abrego Garcia allegedly transported illegal narcotics purchased in Texas for resale in Maryland. On some occasions, according to the indictment, he was accompanied on these trips by members and associates of the MS-13 gang.
According to the same indictment, one of Abrego Garcia's co-conspirators, who was part of the same group, was involved in transporting migrants in the trailer that overturned in Mexico in 2021, resulting in the deaths of fifty people.
