Star witness against Kilmar Abrego Garcia won't be deported, court
records show
[June 30, 2025]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Court records show that the Trump
administration has agreed to spare from deportation a key witness in the
federal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in exchange for his
cooperation in the case.
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Katheryn Millwee holds a portrait of Kilmar Abrego Garcia outside the
federal courthouse Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP
Photo/George Walker IV) |
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Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, 38, has been convicted of smuggling
migrants and illegally reentering the United States after having
been deported. He also pleaded guilty to “deadly conduct” in
connection with a separate incident where he drunkenly fired a
gun in a Texas community.
Records reviewed by The Washington Post show that Hernandez
Reyes has been released early from federal prison to a halfway
house and has been given permission to stay in the U.S. for at
least a year.
Prosecutors have identified Hernandez Reyes as the “first
cooperator” in the case against Abrego, according to court
filings. The Department of Homeland Security maintains that
Hernandez owned the SUV that Abrego Garcia was allegedly using
to smuggle migrants when the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped
him in 2022. That traffic stop is at the center of the criminal
investigation against Abrego Garcia.
Hernandez Reyes is among a handful of cooperating witnesses who
could help the administration deport Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been living in
Maryland, became a flashpoint over Trump’s hard-line immigration
policies when he was mistakenly deported to his native El
Salvador in March. Facing mounting pressure and a Supreme Court
order, the administration returned him this month to face the
smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called
“preposterous.”
On Friday, attorneys for Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in
Tennessee to delay his release from jail because of
“contradictory statements” by the administration over whether or
not he’ll be deported upon release.
A federal judge in Nashville has been preparing to release
Abrego Garcia to await trial on human smuggling charges. But
she’s been holding off over concerns that U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement would swiftly detain him and try to deport
him again.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys are now asking the judge to continue
to detain him following statements by administration officials
“because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on
this issue by” the Justice Department.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty.
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