Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the U.S. to appear in court on Friday, more than two months after being deported to a prison in El Salvador, the country of his birth. No matter how the trial shakes out, it's just the latest example of the Trump administration playing fast and loose with both the facts and the law.
Abrego Garcia was charged with two federal counts of trafficking. The grand jury indictment says Abrego Garcia "was a member and associate of the transnational criminal organization…MS-13" and conspired to transport "undocumented aliens and narcotics" and "firearms" into and across the U.S.
These claims seem to stem from a 2022 traffic stop when the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Abrego Garcia for speeding while driving a vehicle with multiple passengers. At the time, he told police they were coming from St. Louis, where they had been working in construction; he was not detained.
