Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a construction worker from Maryland, has said he is not guilty of human smuggling in a Tennessee federal court. His lawyers say the charges are an attempt to make his deportation to El Salvador in March seem right, even though it was wrong. The case started after the Supreme Court told him to come back, because of increasing pressure. Abrego Garcia's lawyers questioned if the government witnesses were telling the truth, suggesting they helped in return for immigration favors. The charges come from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where Abrego Garcia was driving nine people, which made the police think he was smuggling. Even though they suspected this, he was allowed to leave with just a warning. Before the court hearing, U.S. attorneys said Abrego Garcia was a danger to the community and might run away. They accused him of selling drugs and guns, and hurting women he drove. These charges caused Ben Schrader, who used to be the head of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, to resign.