Kilmar Abrego Garcia indicted on human trafficking charges, ordered to appear before judge in Nashville

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Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national deported earlier this year, is now back on U.S. soil — but this time, in handcuffs.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday announced that Abrego Garcia, 29, has landed in the U.S. and is set to face federal charges for human smuggling and conspiracy.

“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” said Bondi. “A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy.”

According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia played a “significant role” in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade. Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the U.S.

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“He traded the innocence of minor children for profit,” Bondi said. Children were among those allegedly trafficked. The indictment, filed under seal last month, includes two felony counts.

Fox News Digital obtained Tennessee Highway Patrol bodycam footage from a 2022 traffic stop where troopers pulled over Abrego Garcia for speeding. Inside his vehicle were eight other men, raising immediate suspicions. “He’s hauling these people for money,” one trooper said.

Troopers found $1,400 in cash and flagged Abrego Garcia in the National Crime Information Center, which returned a gang/terrorism alert. ICE was called, but never responded.

“What’s changed since then?” Bondi asked rhetorically at the press conference. “Donald Trump is now president of the United States, and our borders are again secure.”

The grand jury also heard allegations that Abrego Garcia trafficked firearms, narcotics and solicited explicit images of a minor. He is even accused by a co-conspirator of being involved in the murder of a rival gang member’s mother. He faces up to 10 years in prison for each person he is charged with trafficking.

Pam Bondi thanked El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele for cooperating with the U.S. government and returning Abrego Garcia after the U.S. presented an arrest warrant. “This is what American justice looks like,” she said.

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“Well, the DOJ made a decision. I think that decisions are very, very good,” said Trump onboard Air Force One later on Friday afternoon. “Yeah, [the] man has a horrible past and I could see a decision being made. Bring him back. Show everybody how horrible this guy is.”

This development comes after controversy erupted in March when Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, a move many politicians on the left claimed was unjust. 

“For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States,” wrote Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in a statement.

Van Hollen made the trek to El Salvador to visit Abrego Garcia earlier this year, sparking internet backlash after being photographed with purported margaritas at a restaurant.

“As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights — and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along,” Van Hollen concluded.

Court filings submitted Friday in the District of Maryland confirm that the government has complied with an April 4 preliminary injunction ordering his return. “Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States today, to stand trial,” federal attorneys wrote in the notice.

But the Trump administration made it clear this was no victory for his defenders.

“The Justice Department’s Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools,” a Trump administration statement said. “Abrego Garcia was never an innocent ‘Maryland Man’ — he is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker… Democrat lawmakers like Senator Chris Van Hollen and the so-called ‘journalists’ who defended this criminal must immediately apologize to his victims.”

Abrego Garcia was reportedly sent to the notorious CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador after deportation, despite a 2019 court order temporarily blocking his removal due to claimed fears of persecution. 

Court records show Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and was ordered deported in 2019. He will be prosecuted and, if convicted, serve his sentence in the U.S. before being returned to El Salvador, officials confirmed.

According to reports from FOX 17, Abrego Garcia will not be arraigned until next week to allow time for court documents to be translated by an interpreter. The hearing is set for June 13 at 10 a.m. CT.

Judge Barbara Holmes ruled to keep Abrego Garcia detained until arraignment as he is deemed a flight risk for his history of violence and ties to criminal groups. 

He will be in the custody of U.S. Marshals until then. Abrego Garcia is being represented by public defender Will Allensworth.

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“For the last two months, the media and Democrats have burnt to the ground any last shred of credibility they had left as they glorified Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a known MS13 gang member, human trafficker, and serial domestic abuser,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital.

“Today, the United States of America confronts Kilmar Abrego Garcia with overwhelming evidence — he is being indicted by a grand jury for human smuggling, including children, and conspiracy. Justice awaits this Salvadoran man.”

Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.