Abrego Garcia’s return marks a turning point in a case that became a broader symbol of criticisms of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.
Critics, including many congressional Democrats, pointed to the case as a sign that the administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations.
But the administration insisted that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers denied.
On Friday, administration officials portrayed the indictment of Abrego Garcia by a grand jury in Tennessee as vindication of their approach – even though the charges were filed on May 21, more than two months after Abrego Garcia’s March 15 deportation.
At a press conference, Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele agreed to return Abrego Garcia to the US after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant.
“The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring,” Bondi said in a press conference.
Abrego Garcia will have the chance to enter a plea in court and contest the charges at trial.
If he is convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said.
In a statement, Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Andrew Rossman, said it would now be up to the US judicial system to ensure he received due process.
“Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along — that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” said Rossman.
Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge’s 2019 order granting him protection from deportation to El Salvador after finding he was likely to be persecuted by gangs if returned there, court records show.
After his lawyers challenged the basis for his deportation, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his “warrantless arrest.” (Reuters)