Judge again delays Abrego Garcia’s release from Tennessee jail over
deportation concerns
[July 01, 2025]
By TRAVIS LOLLER and BEN FINLEY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia will stay in jail for now
over concerns from his lawyers that he could be deported if he’s
released to await his trial on human smuggling charges, a federal judge
in Tennessee ruled Monday.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay his release
because of what they described as “contradictory statements” by
President Donald Trump’s administration over what would happen to the
Salvadoran national. The lawyers wrote in a brief to the court Friday
that “we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue"
by the Justice Department, adding that the “irony of this request is not
lost on anyone.”
Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press on
Thursday that the department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the
smuggling charges before it moves to deport him, stating that Abrego
Garcia “has been charged with horrific crimes."
Hours earlier, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told a federal
judge in Maryland that the U.S. government plans to deport Abrego Garcia
to a “third country” that isn’t El Salvador. Guynn said there was no
timeline for the deportation plans.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys on Friday cited Guynn’s comments as a reason
to fear he would be deported “immediately.”
Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been living in Maryland,
became a flashpoint over Trump’s hardline immigration policies when he
was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. Facing
mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order, Trump’s Republican
administration returned him this month to face the smuggling charges,
which his attorneys have called “preposterous.”
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have accused the Trump administration of
bringing Abrego Garcia back “to convict him in the court of public
opinion” with the intention of deporting him before he has a chance to
defend himself at trial.
“In a just world, he would not seek to prolong his detention further,”
his attorneys wrote Friday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled June 22 that
federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk
or a danger to the community.
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Brianna O'Keefe yells as she holds a portrait of Kilmar Obrego
Garcia during a protest outside the federal courthouse Wednesday,
June 25, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
During a court hearing June 25, Holmes set specific conditions for
Abrego Garcia’s release that included him living with his brother, a
U.S. citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over
concerns that prosecutors can’t prevent ICE from deporting him.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire told the judge he lacks
jurisdiction over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stating
he has no way to prevent Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked the judge to delay his release
until a July 16 court hearing, which will consider a request by
prosecutors to revoke Abrego Garcia’s release order while he awaits
trial. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on June 13 to smuggling
charges.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not
respond directly to a question from The Associated Press on Friday
regarding its plans for Abrego Garcia. A DHS spokesperson, Tricia
McLaughlin, said in a statement that “he will never go free on
American soil.”
When the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia in March, it
violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that barred his
expulsion to his native country. The immigration judge had found
that Abrego Garcia faced a credible threat from gangs that had
terrorized him and his family.
The human smuggling charges pending against Abrego Garcia stem from
a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Abrego
Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage.
___
Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
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