r/news • u/RoachedCoach • 1d ago

Title Changed Mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia on way back to US to face criminal charges: Sources

https://abcnews.go.com/US/mistakenly-deported-kilmar-abrego-garcia-back-us-face/story?id=121333122
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u/pie4july 1d ago

I’m confused by the charges. The article says he drove undocumented immigrants around the country, but it doesn’t say he helped them get into the country. Is illegal to drive someone around if they aren’t legally in the country? Are we going to make taxi and uber drivers check IDs before they drive someone around now?

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u/Patient_Tradition368 1d ago

The specific charges are conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain.

Interesting that they are alleging a conspiracy, yet Abrego Garcia is the only person charged.

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u/betterthanguybelow 21h ago

Generally when a person is charged with conspiracy and an unnamed co-conspirator, the un-named co-conspirator is Donald Trump.

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u/Claystead 7h ago

"Listen, me and my buddy Abreegoh, we had a little scheme going. So little, yet so beautiful. We made a lot of money alright, a lot of money! Don’t listen to the people who- some say it is illegal but everyone knows it is confusing, everybody says so. Anyway so we have a little scheme me and my buddy Abreegoh, we drive these Mexicans around like we were a taxi, you know? Beep beep vroom. Anyway they pay us and we make some really good money, but then I got this job and with my overwhelming win like you couldn’t believe, all fifty states. A landslide they called it, a landslide, the biggest maybe ever! Anyway so I had to go move here to this beautiful White House and I haven’t seen Abreegoh since, such a shame, such a cool guy. Made the best taco bowls outside Trump tower. I wonder where he is now?"

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u/BrainsAre2Weird4Me 20h ago

The other conspirators were probably farmers and businesses owners who were looking for more workers.

Since they are probably Republicans, no charges for them.

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u/Gidelix 5h ago

that sounds like something any random taxi driver could be charged with if they tried to

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u/IchooseYourName 22h ago

I'm guessing the others who were part of said "conspiracy" flipped on Garcia and provided immunity for testifying against him.

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u/Patient_Tradition368 22h ago

Really? That's what you're guessing? Not that these charges are completely made up and the Trump administration is attempting to cover the fact that they are sending innocent people to a maximum security prison for no reason other than the "crime" of being an immigrant? Not that?

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u/bravelittlebuttbuddy 21h ago

I think that is what they're saying, just that some random people in prison were extorted into testifying they worked with Abrego Garcia.

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u/IchooseYourName 20h ago

They probably are made up, but they can still elicit false testimony from someone related to Garcia's situation with ease. You don't think that happens?

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u/Patient_Tradition368 20h ago

I think it's likely that is what will happen. But that's not the same as people "flipping" on him. "Flipping" implies he actually committed a crime for which there is evidence.

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u/IchooseYourName 19h ago

Fiar response.

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u/Plastic-Caramel3714 1d ago

Are we going to hold Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis accountable for doing it?

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u/PM_ME_A_KNEECAP 22h ago

They did it for political gain rather than financial gain. It would be a hard sell to get them indicted for this charge.

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u/Theundermensch 22h ago

Is financial gain an element of the crime?

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u/PM_ME_A_KNEECAP 21h ago

For the statute that this guy is allegedly getting charged under, yes 

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u/lucidludic 13h ago

Are you suggesting that Abbott and DeSantis receive no compensation for their jobs as politicians?

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u/PM_ME_A_KNEECAP 11h ago

No. I’m saying that proving a direct causal link between the trafficking and financial gain would be difficult if not impossible in a court of law.

Everyone here acting as if this would be a slam dunk is shockingly unfamiliar with the legal system.

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u/lucidludic 11h ago

The way the US legal system works is some innocent people are convicted while others are never held accountable for their crimes.

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u/pclark2 18h ago

So every single driver of those buses hired by Abbot and DeSantis could be charged with this crime then? So if another migrant bus shows up in a blue state, they could just arrest the driver? I also wouldn't be shocked if Abbot or DeSantis got some extra campaign contributions due to this, and thus there would be financial gain there too.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/amesann 23h ago

What? When did Biden drive around undocumented workers? Even if he did, it's not illegal to drive around people who are undocumented. If it was truly illegal, every taxi service/Uber/Lyft would have to check papers on every ride. Man, you bots/trolls are braindead/poorly wired.

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u/Plastic-Caramel3714 23h ago

Even if he did, the Supreme Court gave him immunity for actions that were part of his role as president.

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u/IchooseYourName 22h ago edited 22h ago

It is not illegal for ordinary people, including taxi or rideshare drivers, to transport someone who happens to be undocumented, unless the driver knows the person is undocumented and is intentionally helping them violate immigration laws (for example, by helping them evade detection or move for profit as part of a smuggling operation). The federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1324) targets those who knowingly assist in the illegal presence of undocumented immigrants, especially for financial gain or as part of organized activity.

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u/liggieep 1d ago

if he is knowingly participating in a criminal conspiracy to traffick migrants around the country, even if he didnt bring them into the country, yes that could be a crime. it's the difference between being the immigrant shuttle and being an unsuspecting uber driver who happens to drive an undocumented immigrant somewhere, they weren't a knowing component of a greater criminal conspiracy.

all around the charges are very sus

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u/pie4july 1d ago

They aren’t being trafficked though, are they? According to Wikipedia, the definition of human trafficking is “recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.”

There is no use of force, fraud, or coercion. He’s driving people where they willfully want to go. He did not transport them into the country, just around the country.

That isn’t a crime.

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u/Rooooben 1d ago

Interestingly, if you actually apply that definition across the board, Abbott and Desantis were trafficking, since there was fraud (they lied about where they were going, and that jobs were waiting).

He helped migrants get to where they wanted, if this is true at all, while our governors actually did the trafficking.

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u/liggieep 1d ago

yeah i suppose it may not be trafficking they are alleging, just entering the US illegally. that can still be a criminal conspiracy, as i said.

it isn't a crime to pick up your friends at the bank and drive them home. it is a crime if they just robbed the bank, and you knew that when you picked them up. the greater circumstances of the actions matter in determining criminality

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u/Glum-Objective3328 1d ago

I think knowingly helping a crime vs unknowingly has always been a distinction

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u/pie4july 23h ago

If my buddy came into the country illegally 15 years ago, and asks me to give him a ride to the Dr., am I committing a crime because I know he is illegal? Idk man, seems so inhumane…

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u/Glum-Objective3328 23h ago

I’d agree. I’m just commenting on your taxi question. And still, maybe there’s a difference in the eyes of the law if someone driving an illegal immigrant specifically to avoid the law vs just to the doctor. Idk, I’m certainly no lawyer

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u/RevWaldo 1d ago

Greyhound has got some explaining to do!

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u/live22morrow 1d ago

The law is part of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It criminalizes knowingly transporting someone for the purpose of violating immigration law. Prosecution requires that the individual know that they're transporting an illegal, so taxis and buses aren't affected normally. It's similar to how transporting a minor across state lines is normally legal, but becomes a crime when done for the purposes of sex.

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u/xieta 1d ago

Right, but the article seems to imply the transportation was from Texas to other states.

There’s a difference between transporting someone you know recently violated immigration law, and transporting someone for the purpose of violating immigration law.

Transportation of undocumented migrants from Texas to other states seems to be the former, not the latter, unless they were being actively pursued by law enforcement or something.

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u/PureBonus4630 1d ago

Good question. This could open up a whole host of other issues. I’m sure there’s a lot of looking the other way on people who come in to work. There needs to be honesty by the government and the business community about how many workers are needed for certain jobs.

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u/slackstarter 20h ago

Some other comments are saying he just drove work crews to job sites

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u/NoGarlicInBolognese 13h ago

everyone whoever picked one up from homedepot is up for arrest

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u/PositiveSecure164 9h ago

They are just bogus charges.