Maryland man Abrego Garcia, who has been wrongly deported to the El Salvador prison by the Donald Trump government, has been brought back and is currently facing charges of helping and participating in illegal immigration across the US.
As reported by The Independent, “After a traffic stop in March, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then deported to El Salvador’s brutal Terrorism Confinement Center despite an immigration court judge’s 2019 order withholding his removal from the country for humanitarian reasons. Abrego Garcia was later moved to another prison for non-gang members. He was imprisoned in the country for nearly three months.”
The Trump administration tried hard to prove that Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador was justified since he was associated with criminal activities and also a part of the MS-13 gang. However, Democrats and legal analysts argued that in case the charges against him are true, he can be brought back to the US and put on trial here.
Abrego’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, told The Independent, “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.”
Simon further added, “This shows that they were playing games with the court all along,” he added. “Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after.”
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Back in 2022, Abrego was stopped in Tennessee by the police who found that he was travelling with several men who lacked any proper identification. The indictment mentions this though he was not charged with anything then. The indictment further mentions, “Abrego Garcia and his alleged co-conspirators ‘knowingly and unlawfully transported thousands’ of people, some of whom were members of MS-13” as The Independent reported.
According to the prosecutors, “Testimony at trial will establish that the defendant transported approximately 50 undocumented aliens throughout the United States per month for several years. The evidence will also establish the defendant’s longstanding membership and association with MS-13 and how he used his association with the gang to further the alien smuggling conspiracy.”
Abrego’s arrest and indictment was called “American justice” by Attorney General Pam Bondi. She further mentioned if the charges against him were proven to be true, he would be sent back to El Salvador.
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Talking about how Abrego has been treated, Sandoval-Moshenberg told The Independent, “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.”
Previously, Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had admitted that Abrego was deported because of a clerical error while Trump and some of his aides kept defending their decision. However, Abrego had to be brought back because of the mounting pressure from the legal system.
