Firsthand Account of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Pretrial Hearing

by Elena Rojas

Nashville, TN – On Friday, June 13, 2025, Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to charges that he allegedly participated in a decade-long conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the United States. On one hand, his pretrial hearing was a spectacle of clumsy corruption by the MAGA mafia and their minions. On the other hand, it was a display of hypocrisy by the Democrat mafia, who behind their weak chants for “due process” and friendlier façade is their desire to continue with the exploitation and deportation of immigrants.

Abrego Garcia’s case garnered national attention in March 2025 after Trump violated court orders and wrongfully deported him to CECOT, the infamous concentration camp in El Salvador. Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran construction worker from Maryland, father of 3, and a member of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union. He came to the U.S. as a teenager escaping violence and persecution in his home country.

After workers and activists across the country protested for months demanding his return, the U.S. government brought him back under the pretext of pressing charges against him in order to save face for their retreat. The pretrial hearing took place in Nashville because Abrego Garcia’s indictment centers on a traffic stop in Tennessee from November 2022. He was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for speeding. The officers noted that he was transporting 9 passengers without luggage, raising suspicions of human smuggling. However, the officers did not have actual proof that Abrego Garcia was a smuggler, so they let him go without charges.

The Pretrial Hearing

Outside the court, Democrats in Uncle Sam’s outfits held U.S. flags and signs that said “Due Process for Kilmar Abrego” and “Respect the Constitution”. There were virtually zero signs focusing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) terror against immigrants. Inside the court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes presided over the hearing.

The federal prosecutor Robert McGuire from Nashville accused Abrego Garcia of being a dangerous MS-13 member who transported undocumented migrants, gang members, and guns from Texas to other parts of the country on behalf of a smuggling organization. He argued that for the last decade, Abrego Garcia had been endangering his children by bringing them on smuggling trips twice a week to use them as a “cover”. He also accused him of being inappropriate to underage girls.

Prosecutor McGuire relied on one live witness, Special Agent Peter Joseph with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Joseph had been assigned Abrego Garcia’s case on April 28, 2025, less than a month before the indictment was signed, and more than a month since Abrego Garcia had been illegally deported. In his 23 years working for Homeland Security, he had never heard of Abrego Garcia until April 28.

The evidence Joseph presented was “pretty messy”, as described by Defender Will Allensworth. Joseph referenced second-hand accounts from 5 co-conspirators. Joseph based his recollection of these accounts on written reports completed days after interactions, which contained serious typos. “There are notes, but to be perfectly honest, I could not understand them”, he admitted when confronted. He also admitted that he had only interviewed 2 out of the 5 co-conspirators directly, the other accounts were based on summaries provided orally by other agents. There was no transcript or recording of the interviews. At some point he referenced a trooper who had lost visual evidence to prove his claims.

The defense attorney objected to the prosecution’s reliance on multiple layers of hearsay. The accounts were contradictory with each other. He also pointed out that the accounts provided by Joseph were unreliable; 4 out of the 5 co-conspirators are members of the same family, and all of them received a benefit after providing information to Homeland Security. One of them was the owner of the smuggling business that Abrego Garcia allegedly worked for, who was released from prison since speaking to HSI. “So you don’t personally know whether there are agents out there offering people things to testify about Mr. Abrego?” attorney Allensworth asked Joseph.

After hearing testimony, Judge Holmes has not yet decided if Abrego Garcia will be held or released until trial. She will be issuing a written ruling after reviewing the evidence.

Abrego Garcia’s Case Brings Up Contradictions in the Old State

Abrego Garcia’s case has been controversial among the judicial branch. Ben Schrader, the former Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville, resigned from his position as a result of his criminal indictment. Before that, the Supreme Court ordered Trump to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

However, the contradictions between Trump and the judiciary are connected to the liberal concept of “due process” rather than the terror against immigrants. Both Democrats and Republicans represent monopoly capital. Both parties are for U.S. imperialism, which leads to the destabilization of oppressed countries and the mass displacement of people into imperialist countries. Both parties are for the super-exploitation and deportation of immigrants.

Abrego Garcia is accused of being a dangerous member of MS-13, a criminal organization that was formed and expanded under conditions created by both imperialist parties. In the 1980s, the U.S. was financing anti-communist counterinsurgency operations in El Salvador to fight the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Many Salvadorans left their country as a result of the violence generated by the U.S.-backed military and death squads. Displaced Salvadorians in LA went on to form MS-13. In 1992, a year after the fall of the USSR, the FMLN was forced to liquidate and demilitarize. Immediately after, Clinton began deporting MS-13 members, who quickly gained control of territories previously controlled by the FMLN. In recent years, many former policemen trained by the U.S. have joined the ranks of MS-13 in El Salvador and Honduras.

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