Last week, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green sent a letter to Colonel Matt Perry of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) seeking unredacted documentation related to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop and subsequent release. The THP suspected Abrego Garcia of human smuggling but released him, allegedly following instructions from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Chairman Green’s letter requests an unredacted copy of all body and dash camera footage from the traffic stop, unredacted copies of THP notes and reports, names of FBI and THP personnel involved in communications about the stop, and results from any queries conducted by THP in the National Crime Information Center database.
In his letter, Chairman Green states: “On May 1, 2025, the Tennessee Star posted a redacted body camera video depicting Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers conducting a traffic stop on November 30, 2022 of a vehicle driven by Mr. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Mr. Abrego Garcia was stopped for driving erratically and speeding and was found to be driving a car full of people. In the video, a THP officer states that he believes Mr. Abrego Garcia is ‘hauling these people for money,’ presumably indicating that he suspected Mr. Abrego Garcia was being paid to smuggle illegal aliens.”
He continues: “The THP officers utilized federal law enforcement intelligence during their stop and investigation of Mr. Abrego Garcia. According to a Homeland Security Investigations Combined Intelligence Unit (CIU) report, THP queried Mr. Abrego Garcia in the National Crime Information Center database following the traffic stop. The CIU report states that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a validated member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13), a transnational criminal organization.”
Additionally, Chairman Green noted concerns about inadequate information sharing between federal agents and THP officers during the Biden Administration possibly leading to the release of an active gang member.
Background information reveals that according to the Department of Justice, Abrego Garcia has been identified as an MS-13 member multiple times. He admitted crossing into the U.S. illegally in 2012 when questioned alongside known gang members in 2019.
Chairman Green also published an op-ed explaining his decision against using taxpayer dollars for trips by House Homeland Democrats to visit Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.
