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A federal prosecutor acknowledged Thursday that the decision to charge Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia two years after a traffic stop was “irregular,” while defending the human trafficking charge as legally required.
Abrego Garcia, 31, has become a fixture in the immigration debate since last March, when he was deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order in what Trump administration officials admitted was “an administrative error.”
The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration must work to bring him back to the US
After returning in June, Abrego Garcia was booked into a state prison in Nashville and arrested on human trafficking charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
He has denied the charges and wants the charges dropped on prosecution grounds.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, are accompanied by Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, right, of We Are Casa, as they leave federal court, Thursday, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A 2019 court order prevents Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge ruled he posed a gang risk that threatened his family. He immigrated to the US illegally as a child and was under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Abrego Garcia was like that the suspect in court records of repeated domestic violence against his wife, who alleged multiple incidents of physical abuse in defense letters. She later withdrew the protection request and has publicly defended her husband.
The Department of Homeland Security also said he was living in the US illegally and has alleged ties to MS-13, disputing his portrayal as a “Maryland man.” His lawyers denied the gang’s allegations.
Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera footage from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding shows a calm negotiation with officers. When the police discussed the alleged smuggling between them – noting that there were nine passengers in the car – Abrego Garcia was issued only a warning.
TENNESSEE BODYCAM OF ‘MARYLAND MAN’ TRAFFIC STOP SHOWS ARMY’S HANDS ARRESTED OVER SMUGGLING BANDS
A woman holds a sign in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in front of the US District Court in Nashville. (Getty Images)
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire, who was acting U.S. attorney until April 2025, testified Thursday that his decision to charge Abrego Garcia was based on evidence.
“I’ve prosecuted a lot of human trafficking cases in the past,” McGuire said, noting that after seeing the video of the traffic stop, “I was struck by how similar it was to what was shown on the body camera and that investigation.”
McGuire said Abrego Garcia’s car belonged to someone with a “trafficking history” and added that the route was “suspicious.”
“It was a large number of people traveling in one SUV with a driver who spoke for the group. No one was responsible…the vehicle had Texas plates…the route was suspicious,” said McGuire.
DEM JUDGE IN HOT SEAT AFTER DHS DESTROYED A ‘NEW STANDARD’ FOR PROFESSIONAL, SHELTERING OF ILLEGAL VISITOR.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia came to the federal court, Thursday, to hear if the charges against him should be dropped. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
During cross-examination, McGuire admitted that the timing of the charges, which came after a traffic stop, was “unusual.”
He said he had no prior knowledge of the traffic stop but stressed that no one in the Trump administration, including the White House or the Justice Department, pressured him to seek impeachment.
When asked if he may have felt pressure to prosecute the case, McGuire said, “I’m not going to do anything wrong to keep my job.”
DHS OFFICIALLY RIPS KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA FOR ‘TIKTOKING’ AS AGENCY DEALS WITH GAG ORDER
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, right, and his brother Cesar Abrego Garcia, center, arrive at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
McGuire also said the timing of Abrego Garcia’s charges has been since his arrest in El Salvador and he does not want the case to go public before all senior officials have been briefed on the matter.
“I knew from the beginning that this was going to be controversial,” McGuire said.
US District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw did not rule Thursday and said she would wait to receive the attorneys’ post-hearing briefs on March 5 before deciding whether another hearing is necessary.
Crenshaw previously found evidence that the prosecutor “may be vindictive” and that previous statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.”
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Thursday’s court appearance came after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from re-arresting Abrego Garcia in immigration custody on Feb. 17.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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