After Months in El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia Is Finally Returning to the U.S.
Update (June 6, 2025) – Kilmar Abrego Garcia is coming back to the United States after months in detention in El Salvador. Immigration officials wrongfully deported the Maryland father in March 2025. He will now face federal charges upon his return.
“From the beginning, this case has made one thing painfully clear: The government had the power to bring him back at any time. Instead, they chose to play games with the court and with a man’s life,” Abrego Garcia’s attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told ABC News. “We’re not just fighting for Kilmar — we’re fighting to ensure due process rights are protected for everyone. Because tomorrow, this could be any one of us — if we let power go unchecked, if we ignore our Constitution.”
Abrego Garcia is facing criminal prosecution when he returns
A grand jury in Tennessee indicted Abrego Garcia on charges of allegedly transporting undocumented people within the U.S. The charges show the Trump administration is aggressively looking for reasons to justify his removal from the U.S. Federal government officials admitted that they deported him in error. For months, the Trump administration defied court orders to return him to the U.S.
The criminal charges come after authorities began scrutinizing a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022. During the stop, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers stopped Abrego Garcia while he was traveling with multiple people in his vehicle. He claimed they were working a construction job in Missouri. Despite not being issued a ticket, the patrolmen question whether the people in the car were there legally.
Original – The deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has turned into a flash point in the immigration debate for the United States. The U.S. government deported the father to El Salvador. He spent weeks at the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) megaprison.
Immigration advocates have called on the Trump administration to return the Maryland father to the U.S. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the Trump administration had to facilitate his return. President Trump has been defiant of the Supreme Court order, but he admitted that he isn’t powerless.
President Donald Trump admitted he could bring Abrego Garcia home
ABC News anchor Terry Moran pressed President Trump about Abrego Garcia. Moran pushed the president until he admitted that he could do something to return Abrego Garcia.
“Now the Supreme Court has upheld an order that you must return him to the– facilitate his return to the United States,” Moran told President Trump. “What are you doing to comply?”
“Well, the lawyer that said it was a mistake was here a long time, was not appointed by us– should not have said that, should not have said that,” Trump responded. He continued to keep saying that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 and implied that he is a danger to people in the U.S.
When pressed again, President Trump attempted to throw the attention away from the question saying that Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally. That is when Moran put President Trump in a corner and made him admit that he had power to reverse the deportation.
“You could get him back. There’s a phone on this desk,” Moran said while pointing to the desk in the Oval Office.
“I could,” President Trump admitted.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is allegedly in a different prison
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is apparently in a low-security prison in El Salvador, called Centro Industrial, according to Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). The prison is located in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Centro Industrial refuses people with gang affiliations. Prisoners at Centro Industrial are nearing the end of their sentence.
Sen. Van Hollen shared the news after his trip to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia. A following update to the courts from the U.S. State Department seemed to confirm that claim that Abrego Garcia is no longer at CECOT. The update prompted Federal Judge Paula Xinis to order the federal government to provide daily updates on Abrego Garcia’s movements.
According to NBC News, inmates spend their time moving around pretty freely and do work. They care for livestock, tend to plants, or manufacture goods like school desks. The inmates are considered “trusted inmates” and have shown good behavior, according to NBC News.
The Trump administration has to start providing information to the courts
Judge Xinis lifted her previous directive that the Trump administration share information about what is being done to bring Abrego Garcia back. The judge also set dates in May for when officials will have to provide sworn testimony sharing their efforts to return Abrego Garcia.
Abrego’s deportation has angered advocates calling for accountability from immigration officials. A prosecutor for the federal government admitted that Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admitted in court filings that he was deported as an “administrative error.”