By Ben Finley and Travis Loeller, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge in Tennessee decided Monday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia will remain in jail for the time being because his attorneys fear he may be deported if he is allowed to leave to await his trial on accusations of people smuggling.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia had requested that the judge postpone his release due to what they said were conflicting statements made by the administration of President Donald Trump regarding the Salvadoran national’s future. “We cannot place any trust in any representation made on this issue by the Justice Department,” the attorneys said in a brief to the court on Friday. They also noted that the irony of this request is not lost on anyone.
The Justice Department plans to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before deporting him, according to Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin, who told The Associated Press on Thursday. Abrego Garcia has been charged with heinous crimes, such as trafficking children, and will not be allowed to live freely in our nation ever again.
The U.S. government intends to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country that is not El Salvador, Justice Department lawyer Jonathan Guynn informed a federal judge in Maryland just hours ago. Guynn stated that the plans for deportation had no timetable.
Guynn’s remarks were used by Abrego Garcia’s lawyers on Friday as justification for their concern that he would be deported right away.
When Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been residing in Maryland, was inadvertently deported to his home country of El Salvador in March, he became a focal point for Trump’s strict immigration policy. Trump’s Republican administration brought him back this month to face the smuggling allegations, which his lawyers have called absurd, in response to increasing pressure and a Supreme Court ruling.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire consented to postpone Abrego Garcia’s release on Friday in response to the request made by his lawyers. He restated his belief that Abrego Garcia ought to be detained pending trial. Additionally, the prosecutor claimed that he has no authority over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that he is powerless to stop Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
When The Associated Press asked the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, about its plans for Abrego Garcia on Friday, the agency did not immediately answer. “He will never go free on American soil,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS official.
In order to deport Abrego Garcia before he has an opportunity to defend himself at trial, his lawyers have accused the Trump administration of bringing him back to convict him in the court of public opinion.
His lawyers claimed that in a fair world, he wouldn’t try to extend his incarceration.
Related Articles
-
More than 300 charged in $14.6 billion health care fraud schemes takedown, Justice Department says
-
GoFundMe is refurbishing a little-known financial tool in a bid to supercharge everyday giving
-
A more defensive Pride: Activists say celebrations are more critical as US, conservative states rescind LGBTQ protections
-
Woman burned in Boulder firebombing attack dies
-
US skips global UN meeting aimed at raising trillions to combat poverty
The judge has been urged by Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to postpone his release until a hearing on July 16 to review prosecutors’ motion to rescind his release order as he awaits trial.
On June 13, Abrego Garcia entered a not guilty plea to smuggling allegations, which his lawyers have described as an effort to defend his unjustified deportation from a renowned El Salvadorian prison.
The Trump administration broke a 2019 ruling from a U.S. immigration judge that prohibited Abrego Garcia from being sent back to his home country when it deported him in March. Abrego Garcia and his family had been terrorized by gangs, which the immigration judge said posed a real threat.
Abrego Garcia faces ongoing allegations related to people smuggling after being pulled up for speeding in Tennessee in 2022 while operating a car carrying nine passengers without any luggage.
In her decision on Sunday, Nashville U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes stated that federal prosecutors had not proven Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a community danger.
Holmes imposed some requirements on Abrego Garcia’s release during a court hearing on Wednesday, including that he reside in Maryland with his brother, a U.S. citizen. However, she delayed his release because she was worried that prosecutors wouldn’t be able to stop ICE from deporting him.
Finley reported from Virginia’s Norfolk.
