House homeland security Chairman Mark Green is pressing Tennessee authorities to hand over unredacted video and reports tied to a 2022 traffic stop involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, reported the New York Post.Garcia is a Salvadoran national wrongly deported to El Salvador in March under the Trump administration. Green’s request follows growing questions over the federal handling of Abrego Garcia’s case, which has become a flashpoint in debates over immigration and due process.Edited police bodycam footage, cited by Fox News, shows Abrego Garcia being pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol while transporting eight other individuals in a van. A trooper is heard suggesting that Abrego Garcia was “hauling these people for money,” sparking suspicions of human trafficking. However, the 29-year-old was let go with a citation for driving with an expired license.A source cited by Fox said that redacted portions of the footage included troopers discussing whether to call immigration authorities. Though a call was made, federal agents reportedly did not respond at the scene.Abrego Garcia told officers he was driving to Temple Hills, Maryland, for construction work. It later emerged the vehicle’s owner, Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, had been convicted in 2020 for migrant smuggling and allegedly employed Garcia multiple times to transport undocumented migrants. Hernandez-Reyes, currently in federal custody, told ABC News that he ran a smuggling “taxi service” and had hired Abrego Garcia frequently since 2015.Despite no charges from the stop, the Trump administration used the incident to portray Abrego Garcia as an MS-13 member. However, his attorneys, including Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, deny any gang affiliation and highlight the lack of charges or criminal record. “There is no evidence of a crime in this footage,” Sandoval-Moshenberg was quoted as saying by CNN, insisting that Garcia’s deportation violated his right to due process.In 2019, a US immigration judge had ruled Garcia should not be deported to El Salvador, citing gang threats to his life. Nonetheless, he was mistakenly expelled in March and initially held in the CECOT megaprison. The Supreme Court has since upheld a lower court’s order for his return. Yet, Trump has refused to bring him back, citing alleged gang links.Green’s letter also demands the names of FBI officials who declined to detain Garcia, saying the case reflects “reckless, open-borders policies” under the Biden-Harris administration.
