Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, is back in the U.S. and is facing criminal charges. But despite the Trump administration's intention to deport him swiftly, his lawyer, Chris Newman, says the case and its outcome will determine constitutional protections for all Americans.
Newman recently sat down with CBS News' Major Garrett, where he argued that Abrego Garcia's case, which has become one of the most notable deportation cases in the country, is a testament to the erosion of due process rights in the U.S.
"The Trump administration is very invested in making this a referendum on the immigration debate, which, as you know, has become coarsened and polarized," Newman said. "And that is one way to look at it. And I think certainly a lot of people view it that way. I don't view it that way. I view this as a core constitutional order case, a core due process case. And it just so happens that a Salvadoran immigrant is defending bedrock constitutional protections for all of us."
Newman's statements come as lawyers for Abrego Garcia accuse the Trump administration of saying for weeks it was powerless to bring him back to the U.S. from El Salvador despite orders from a federal judge and the Supreme Court to facilitate his return.
"The Government has always had the ability to return Abrego Garcia, but it has simply refused to do so," the attorneys wrote in a court filing, arguing that the administration has "engaged in an elaborate, all-of-government effort to defy court orders, deny due process, and disparage Abrego Garcia."
The attorneys said the lawsuit over his mistaken deportation has not concluded in a Maryland federal court.
"The executive branch's wanton disregard for the judicial branch has left a stain on the Constitution," the attorneys wrote. "If there is to be any hope of removing that stain, it must start by shining a light on the improper actions of the Government in this tragic affair and imposing meaningful remedies."
Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. on Friday to face charges of human smuggling, amid an escalating battle between the Trump administration and the courts.
The case ignited widespread outrage after Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador and held in an infamous supermax prison along with hundreds of other deportees, despite a judge ruling years earlier that he shouldn't be deported to El Salvador. The Trump administration admitted that his deportation was an "administrative error."
The indictment, which was unsealed Friday, alleges that the Salvadoran and others transported thousands of migrants across the U.S. who were in the country unlawfully. It also claims that many of the undocumented migrants were members of the gang MS-13. The administration has also accused him of MS-13 membership. Which his family and attorneys strongly deny.
"Until Friday, Kilmar Abrego Garcia had never been charged with a crime, either in the United States or El Salvador, but you wouldn't know that if you watched White House press briefings for the last two months," Newman said. "All we've been asking up until this point is for Kilmar to have his day in court so he could defend himself."
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