NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man mistakenly deported to El Salvador will appear in a federal courtroom in Nashville Friday for a hearing and arraignment.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported to an El Salvador prison in March 2025. A Tennessee judge will hear arguments on whether Abrego Garcia can be released from jail pending the outcome of a trial on human smuggling charges. He is accused of conspiring to bring undocumented migrants to the United States from around 2016 to 2025.

He was returned to the U.S. last week to face criminal charges, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi claimed Abrego Garcia and co-conspirators worked to bring undocumented immigrants to the U.S., including minors, from around 2016 until this year. He has also been accused of trafficking narcotics, abusing women and has been associated with child sexual abuse.

The charges stem from a traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in Putnam County in 2022. Body camera video shows officers discussing among themselves their suspicions of human smuggling before letting Abrego Garcia go free. He was not charged with any offense at the traffic stop before he was deported in March and returned on June 6.

The motion for detention pretrial accuses Abrego Garcia of trafficking people, drugs and firearms and abuse. None of those allegations are part of the actual charges against him.

On Wednesday, Abrego Garcia's public defenders argued the government is not entitled to a detention hearing because the actual charges are not serious enough. His attorneys claim the charges are a desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify the mistaken deportation. They say Abrego Garcia has been denied due process.

Multiple protest are planned Friday ahead of the hearing at the federal courthouse. Metro officers were seen arriving to the courthouse and preparing for protests with police shields

According to court documents, Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally in 2011 to escape gang violence and he is married to a U.S. citizen.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/kilmar-abrego-garcia-hearing/