Posted on 06/06/25
| News Source: The Hill
The Trump administration has moved to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from imprisonment in a Salvadoran facility in order to file a criminal case against him with charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, an attorney for Abrego Garcia told The Hill.
The return of Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported despite being protected from removal to his home country, comes after administration officials had fought court rulings ordering his return. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he would never live a “peaceful” life in the U.S.
Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding as he was driving from St. Louis to his home in Maryland, and video of the incident shows the officer skeptical of a van full of passengers without any luggage.
Newly unsealed court documents show the government is charging Abrego Garcia with two counts related to unlawful transportation of undocumented migrants in connection with the incident.
“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told The Hill in a statement.
“This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after. This is an abuse of power, not justice. The government should put him on trial, yes—but in front of the same immigration judge who heard his case in 2019, which is the ordinary manner of doing things, ‘to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,’ as the Supreme Court ordered.”
The White House, Justice Department and State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.