Media Downplays Human Trafficking Charges Against Illegal Alien

The propaganda press catchphrase of recent days is “wrongly deported,” used liberally in headlines describing the latest chapter of the Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia deportation saga. For open-border activists, who have been blindly advocating for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S., “wrongly deported,” goes down easier than “alleged international human trafficker.”

A grand jury indictment unsealed Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), charged Abrego Garcia, 30, with “conspiracy to transport aliens” and “unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens.” The charges are related to his connection to an international human smuggling ring that trafficked thousands of illegal aliens into the U.S. between 2016-2025, the indictment said.

Abrego Garcia worked with co-conspirators to move people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and elsewhere, through Mexico, crossing the border into Texas, and then moving them throughout the United States, the indictment said.

Abrego Garcia’s main co-conspirators are not named, but identified by numbers 1-6. Like Abrego Garcia, co-conspirators 1-5 are citizens of El Salvador, while co-conspirator 6 is a citizen of Guatemala, according to the indictment.

Abrego and his co-conspirators in the trafficking ring took payment, often requiring cash, from the passengers and then transferred the money between themselves to launder it, according to the indictment. The document further claims that certain conspirators, including Abrego Garcia, took phones away from passengers to ensure they did not communicate with anyone on the journey, returning them at the end of the trip. Passengers traveled with no luggage, and these accused conspirators had a cover story in case they were stopped: that they were traveling for a construction job.

Co-conspirator 6 was a primary supplier of undocumented aliens in the smuggling conspiracy, including MS-13 gang members and associates, the indictment said. It also claims Abrego Garcia and co-conspirator 1 connected with the illegal aliens in Houston, Texas, soon after they crossed the border, then transported them to various places in the U.S., including Texas, Tennessee, Maryland, New York, and elsewhere.

Abrego Garcia and co-conspirators 1 and 2 also transported firearms and drugs “illegally purchased in Texas for distribution and resale in Maryland,” the indictment said.

The indictment identified co-conspirator number 6 as being involved in a high-profile semi tractor trailer crash in Mexico. The trailer, holding some 150 people, overturned, killing more than 50 people and injuring many others.    

A 2024 indictment connected to the deadly truck alleged smugglers “recruited Guatemalan migrants, collected payment, and arranged for their transportation to the United States.” The document says the migrants were “moved on foot, and inside microbuses, cattle trucks, and tractor trailers.”

“[The grand jury found] This was his full-time job. Not a contractor,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Friday press conference announcing the indictment. “He was a smuggler of humans, and children, and women.”

Just a Family Man

Abrego Garcia is not a U.S. citizen. He is a citizen of El Salvador who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011. It is a crime to improperly enter or stay in the U.S. Yet the left has endearingly marketed Abrego Garcia as the “Maryland dad” who was “wrongly deported,” and must downplay his alleged crimes to make his story fit their messaging.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., appeared on Meet the Press Sunday to discuss Abrego Garcia, and neither he, nor host Kristen Welker addressed the implications of the trafficking charges. Booker said Abrego Garcia is back, but there are hundreds of others waiting to be returned and get their day in court.

A CNN headline says Abrego Garcia was returned to “face criminal charges,” but doesn’t clarify what the charges are. The story leads with a line about, “the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador.”  

Taxpayer-funded PBS should get an award for most deceptive headline: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to U.S. to face charges from Tennessee traffic stop.”

Abrego lived in Maryland until March 15, when he was deported along with an airplane full of more than 200 migrants, to CECOT prison in El Salvador. Activist attorneys got involved, saying he was deported without due process and demanding his return.

But he entered the U.S. illegally, was accused of domestic violence, and the federal government says he is a member of the MS-13 gang, a designated foreign terrorist organization, based in part on a 2019 arrest.

He did not ask for asylum until after he had been in the U.S. illegally for more than seven years and was detained by law enforcement. His asylum claim was denied. In 2019, a judge issued a withholding order, preventing him from being sent back to El Salvador.

This is where the “wrongly deported” narrative was born. The Trump administration called his removal to El Salvador an “administrative error,” but said since Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, his return to the United States would threaten the public. The Supreme Court told the administration to bring him back to the U.S. to give him a chance in court.

As the media continues to describe Abrego Garcia as “wrongly deported,” the indictment says he made more than 100 trips, often transporting 6-10 illegal aliens at a time, trafficking humans for profit.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.