Returned Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia arraigned on federal human trafficking charges in Tennessee

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian migrant who was erroneously deported to El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. to face federal prosecution last week, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of human trafficking and conspiracy charges.

Garcia’s legal team told U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes on Friday that they have had time to review the indictment, and Garcia understands what he is accused of, before he formally entered the plea, which stems from a 2022 traffic stop.

Abrego Garcia is charged with the trafficking of undocumented migrants, and conspiring with others to do so.

The criminal case against Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member, comes after a high-profile, protracted legal fight over his deportation and the Trump administration’s efforts to delay his return to the U.S., even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” his release earlier this year.

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His case has become a national flashpoint in the broader fight over Trump’s hard-line immigration policies in his second White House term.

In a court filing Wednesday night, lawyers for Abrego Garcia urged U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Holmes in Tennessee to release their client from custody while awaiting trial, arguing that the government’s grounds for a detention hearing – and his alleged status as an MS-13 gang member – are meritless.

“Mr. Abrego Garcia asks the Court for what he has been denied the past several months – due process,” his lawyers said, adding that there is no evidence their client is a flight risk, or that he has “systematically engaged in international travel in the recent past.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have also disputed his status as a member of MS-13, which was based on allegations made by a confidential informant, according to court documents. The informant had alleged Abrego Garcia belonged to an MS-13 chapter in New York, where he had never lived.

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Federal prosecutors disputed that and have urged the judge to keep him in custody, saying in a filing of their own that Abrego Garcia “would have enormous reason to flee” if he were not immediately detained by ICE. 

Court documents show the Justice Department filed the charges against Abrego Garcia on May 21– prompting a flurry of questions as to when the investigation and impaneling of a grand jury would have taken place. 

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Abrego Garcia’s family sued the Trump administration in March after the Salvadoran man, who entered the country illegally around 2012 and was living in Maryland, was abruptly deported to El Salvador in March. An immigration judge had ruled in 2019 that he could be deported, just not to El Salvador.

Upon being returned to the U.S. last week, Abrego Garcia was immediately sent to Tennessee to face federal charges related to transporting undocumented immigrants.

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.