The Trump administration has moved to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from imprisonment in a Salvadoran facility in order to file a criminal case against him with charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.

The return of Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported despite being protected from removal to his home country, comes after administration officials had fought court rulings ordering his return. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he would never live a “peaceful” life in the U.S.

The newly unsealed indictment charges Abrego Garcia with unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens and a related conspiracy charge. He stands accused of making more than 100 trips from Texas to other parts of the country over the course of years to transport migrants in exchange for payment.

The investigation stems from when the Tennessee Highway Patrol pulled over Abrego Garcia in December 2022 for speeding, and video of the incident shows the officer skeptical of a van full of passengers without any luggage. The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia falsely told the officer he was driving construction workers from St. Louis, but he was actually on one of his trips transporting undocumented migrants.

“The government disappeared Kilmar to a foreign prison in violation of a court order. Now, after months of delay and secrecy, they’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told The Hill in a statement.

“This shows that they were playing games with the court all along. Due process means the chance to defend yourself before you’re punished, not after. This........

© The Hill