TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 9, 2025

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador made him a flashpoint in the administration’s immigration policy, has been indicted in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee on conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants and MS-13 gang members into the United States. The Tennessean reports that Abrego Garcia was returned to the states on Friday and appeared in an after-hours court hearing in Nashville. He will be arraigned on Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice says Abrego Garcia played a significant role in a nine-year smuggling ring. "He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country … This is especially disturbing because Abrego Garcia is also alleged with transporting minor children," Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference. In 2022, the Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled over a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Abrego Garcia on Interstate 40 in Putnam County. “There were nine additional passengers in the Suburban, all of whom were Hispanic males, and none of whom had any identification,” the indictment alleges. Abrego Garcia’s attorney called the charges an “abuse of power.”