Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges in Tennessee federal court

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, pleaded not guilty on Friday to human smuggling charges in a federal court in Tennessee.

The detention hearing was the first chance the Maryland construction worker has had in a U.S. courtroom to answer the Trump administration’s allegations against him since he was mistakenly deported in March to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Facing court orders and mounting pressure to return Abrego Garcia, the Republican administration brought him back to the U.S. last week. But it was to face criminal charges related to what federal prosecutors said was a human smuggling operation that transported immigrants across the country.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have characterized the smuggling case as a desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify his mistaken deportation three months after the fact.

The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. His lawyers have called the allegations “preposterous.”

Friday’s hearing will determine whether Abrego Garcia should be released from jail as he awaits trial. In briefings before the hearing, U.S. attorneys described him as a danger to the community and a flight risk, while his public defenders said the charges aren’t serious enough for detention.

The charges against Abrego Garcia are human smuggling. But in their request to keep Abrego Garcia in jail, U.S. attorneys also accused him of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims, although he is not charged with such crimes.

Friday’s proceeding included testimony from a Department of Homeland Security agent who quoted three unnamed witnesses who spoke to a grand jury about Abrego Garcia’s alleged actions.

Special agent Peter Joseph said that the witnesses saw Abrego Garcia trafficking people, guns or drugs and that Abrego Garcia earned upwards of $100,000 a year. One man said he saw Abrego Garcia bothering underage girls in a sexual way, Joseph testified, while a woman said Abrego Garcia had solicited nude photos of her when she was 15 and believed he was in the MS-13 gang.