The Salvadoran man, who was mistakenly sent to the high-security CECOT prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration in March, was returned to the U.S. in June following a lengthy court battle to face the human smuggling charges tied to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia walked out of federal custody for the first time since March, when he was deported to El Salvador in what the government has called an "administrative error."