Nashville, Tennessee
CNN
—
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national mistakenly deported from the US three months ago, has pleaded not guilty to federal human trafficking charges.
Abrego Garcia is in court Friday morning wearing a red detention uniform.
He faces counts of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.
The allegations relate to a traffic stop when Abrego Garcia drove a Chevrolet Suburban with nine Hispanic male passengers through Tennessee in 2022. Prosecutors allege he transported undocumented people in the US on more than 100 trips between Texas, Maryland and other states.
Prosecutors allege that over several years, Abrego Garcia “operated in the illicit world of an international smuggling ring.”
His attorneys, in filings arguing for his release, question the severity of the allegations Abrego Garcia faces. They argue the law shouldn’t even prompt the court to consider detaining him and holding a hearing like Friday’s, let alone decide he should stay behind bars awaiting trial.
“The Court cannot find that Mr. Abrego Garcia poses a serious risk of international flight simply because he’s charged with a crime that the government finds distasteful,” his lawyers wrote to the Tennessee court this week.
For months, the Trump administration has been locked in an intense standoff with the federal judiciary over court orders for the government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador, which experts, members of Congress and judges have perceived as a Constitutional crisis between the branches of government.
The Tennessee indictment, approved under seal by a grand jury in late May, and accompanying arrest warrant are what enabled the US government to ask the Salvadoran government to return him, officials have said.
Ahead of his arraignment Friday, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, shared his gratitude for those who are fighting for his release at a news conference. She said Kilmar urges anyone who, like him, remains in immigration custody to “have faith.”
“He says to continue fighting and (we) will be victorious because God is with us,” she said.
Vasquez Sura, who is a US citizen, also stressed that her family should have never been put in this situation.
“Our son, Kilmar Jr., is right now at his kindergarten graduation,” she said through tears. “My son is alone on his big day … and I’m here fighting for my husband – for his Dad – to come back home.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi held a news conference touting Abrego Garcia’s indictment last week, calling an aspect of the conspiracy, where children allegedly were transported for profit, “disturbing.” The indictment also alleges he trafficked drugs and firearms.
“These facts demonstrate Abrego Garcia is a danger to our community,” Bondi said.
While Bondi and the indictment emphasized the danger of human smuggling operations and suspected ties to the gang MS-13 – a focus of law enforcement as the Trump administration bears down on undocumented immigrants in the US – the grand jury indictment stopped short of alleging he was a mastermind in the conspiracy.
In a filing last week, the prosecutors told the judge they believe Abrego Garcia also has a history of violence, linked to gangs in El Salvador before he came to the US.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers contest the allegations linking him to infractions against minors can’t be used to keep him detained. They also say children he is alleged to have transported aren’t victims or at risk of harm because they were riding on the floorboard of his SUV, meaning some of the Justice Department’s arguments to keep Abrego Garcia detained may not be enough for the judge to agree.
He is not charged with any violent crimes or crimes against children.
In a separate federal court proceeding in Maryland, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys are arguing for Trump administration officials to be sanctioned because of their handling of his deportation situation, and the lack of information they provided to his legal team following multiple court orders, while Abrego Garcia was in El Salvador this year.
CNN’s Chelsea Bailey contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional details.
