Lawyers for
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
have asked a federal judge in Tennessee to delay
releasing him from jail
in order to prevent the Trump administration from
trying to swiftly deport
the Maryland construction worker.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. in Nashville
is expected to rule soon
on whether to free Abrego Garcia while he awaits trial on human smuggling charges. If the Salvadoran national is released, U.S. officials have said he would be immediately detained by immigration authorities and
targeted for deportation
.
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Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies when he was
wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March
. That expulsion violated a U.S.
immigration judge’s order
in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.
The
administration claimed
that Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, although he wasn’t charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation. Facing mounting pressure and
a U.S. Supreme Court order
, the Trump administration
returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
last month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called “preposterous.”
The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on.
U.S. officials
have said they’ll try to deport
Abrego Garcia to a country that isn’t El Salvador, such as Mexico or South Sudan, before his trial starts in January because they allege he’s a danger to the community.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled a month ago that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release after she determined he’s not a flight risk or a danger. Abrego Garcia’s attorneys asked her to keep him in jail over deportation concerns.
Holmes’ ruling is being reviewed by Crenshaw after federal prosecutors filed a motion to revoke her release order.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys initially argued for his release but changed their strategy because of the government’s plans to deport him if he is set free. With Crenshaw’s decision imminent, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed a motion Sunday night for a 30-day stay of any release order. The request would allow Abrego Garcia to “evaluate his options and determine whether additional relief is necessary.”
Earlier this month, U.S. officials
detailed their plans
to try to expel Abrego Garcia in a federal court in Maryland. That’s where Abrego Garcia’s American wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is suing the Trump administration over his wrongful deportation in March and is trying to prevent another expulsion.
U.S. officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally around 2011 and because a U.S. immigration judge deemed him eligible for expulsion in 2019, although not to his native El Salvador.
Following the immigration judge’s decision in 2019, Abrego Garcia was released under federal supervision, received a federal work permit and checked in with ICE each year, his attorneys have said. But U.S. officials recently stated in court documents that they revoked Abrego Garcia’s supervised release.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Maryland
have asked
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to order the federal government to send Abrego Garcia to that state to await his trial, a bid that seeks to prevent deportation.
His lawyers also asked Xinis to issue at least
a 72-hour hold
that would prevent immediate deportation if he’s released from jail in Tennessee. Xinis has not ruled on either request.
