In a wild turn of events, Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a migrant who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration—is now back in the U.S. to face some serious criminal charges.
The 29-year-old father of three was accused of transporting undocumented migrants and being part of a long-running smuggling operation. But here’s the kicker: he was deported even though a court had ordered he not be removed, because he was at risk of persecution back home and had denied ties to the notorious MS-13 gang.
Abrego Garcia’s story quickly turned into a legal and political rollercoaster. After his deportation, his American wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, fought hard, suing to get him back. The Supreme Court sided with the couple.
The charges against him stem from a decade-long investigation into migrant smuggling, which blew up after a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee raised red flags when he was found driving with eight passengers. Officials suspect he was moving migrants across states, possibly including some linked to MS-13, although Abrego Garcia and his family deny those claims.
U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, who represents Maryland where Abrego Garcia lived, praised the efforts to uphold constitutional rights and due process. Meanwhile, Abrego’s lawyer called out the government for playing “games with the court and with a man’s life.”
Trump deflects responsibility for bringing back alleged MS-13 member
In a weekend interview that quickly made headlines, President Donald Trump made it clear that he wasn’t the one who decided to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States — that was all the Department of Justice, he said.
Speaking to NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Trump downplayed his involvement, saying, “Well, that wasn’t my decision. The Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that’s fine.” According to him, there were two ways to handle the situation, and the DOJ picked the faster one.
Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador back in March, returned to the U.S. last week to face serious charges. Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, announced that Garcia had been deeply involved in an international human smuggling operation — not just helping out, but reportedly making it his full-time job.
DOJ records also tied Garcia to the notorious MS-13 gang and noted that he hadn’t expressed any fear about returning to his home country when he was initially deported.
Some Democrats, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, pushed for Garcia’s return. Trump didn’t hold back in his response: “He’s a loser. The guy’s a loser,” he said of Van Hollen. “He’s trying to defend a man who’s got a horrible record of abuse, abuse of women in particular.”
Despite the controversy, recent polling shows the public is pretty divided. A CBS News poll found that 54% support the Trump-era deportation program, especially when it focuses on criminals. But at the same time, 56% say they don’t like how Trump’s been handling it.
So, in true Trump fashion, the saga mixes crime, politics, insults — and, of course, some classic deflection.
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