Alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia faces federal prosecution for human trafficking following his contested deportation to El Salvador and court-ordered return to the U.S.

Abrego Garcia was charged with working with at least five co-conspirators as part of a smuggling ring to bring immigrants to the United States illegally.

Justice Department lawyers contend Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be jailed while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking.

Abrego Garcia entered the United States in 2012 and sought asylum in 2019, after he was detained and faced deportation proceedings. Though his claim was denied, an immigration judge agreed to bar immigration officials from sending him back to El Salvador because of the potential that he might be targeted for violence by a local gang.

Prosecutors have asked a judge for a pre-trial detention hearing in the human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after he was brought back to the U.S. Friday.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s subsequent arrival to El Salvador sparked a saga of protests and distrust between Trump’s administration and citizens. It continues Friday at a court in Tennessee.