Overview
- Abrego Garcia was flown back from El Salvador on June 6 to face a sealed two-count federal indictment in Tennessee charging him with conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants within the United States.
- He was wrongfully deported in March under the Trump administration’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act despite a 2019 withholding order barring his removal to El Salvador.
- The unsealed May 21 indictment alleges that over nine years he and co-conspirators moved hundreds of migrants, including alleged MS-13 members, across state lines for profit.
- His defense team argues the administration’s delay in repatriating him violated due process and amounted to an abuse of executive authority.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele for agreeing to extradite Abrego Garcia after presentation of an arrest warrant, enabling him to “face justice” in U.S. courts.