Kilmar Abrego Garcia Denies Human Smuggling Charges in Court Plea

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, returned to the United States last week after being mistakenly sent to a prison in El Salvador. On Friday, during an arraignment at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, he pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges. Abrego Garcia faces accusations of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal immigrants for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal immigrants for monetary purposes.

This legal battle spans over three months, beginning when the Trump administration mistakenly deported Abrego Garcia, a legal permanent resident, to a high-security prison in El Salvador. Initially, the administration described this action as an “administrative error.” His lawyers and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment after the arraignment.

Abrego Garcia was arrested on March 12 and sent to a notorious prison where he was placed among others accused of gang affiliation. The Trump administration alleged he was part of the MS-13 gang, a claim that Abrego Garcia and his legal team have consistently denied. A federal judge ruled in April that the administration must return him to the U.S., and the matter even went to the Supreme Court, which ordered that he be allowed to come back.

Once returned to the U.S., Abrego Garcia faced smuggling charges despite claims from the government regarding drug trafficking and violence that were not reflected in his charges. During this time, the judge emphasized that a person cannot be detained based solely on accusations. The case has sparked significant attention, leading to the resignation of Ben Schrader, the former chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, who expressed his commitment to justice on social media.

Before the arraignment, Abrego Garcia’s wife held a news conference to share his message of hope for families facing separation.