Kilmer Abrego Garcia’s lawyers demand that he remain locked up to prevent the Trump administration from expelling him from the US quickly
In an emergency motion filed Friday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers asked a Tennessee federal magistrate judge to delay his release from criminal custody until the July 16 hearing, according to court documents. His lawyers argued that the manipulation would prevent the Trump administration from deporting him soon and provide the government with more time to describe its intentions as human smugglers. (Related: California’s vice-mayor invites Hispanic gangs to join in the fight against the ice)
“This is the first time the government has announced to anyone that they will not send Abrego back to El Salvador after the trial on these charges, but it was intended to immediately expel him into a third country,” his lawyer told the US Magistrate Judge on Friday.
The lawyers admitted the “irony” of their demands in their allegations that Abrego Garcia had spent the past two weeks as he had requested that he be detained in Tennessee and that federal prosecutors remain in custody before his trial. The Salvador man could be taken into custody as early as Friday, unless the judge allows for the delay.
Protesters are calling for the release of Maryland resident Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who has been deported to the Cecot prison in El Salvador by US President Donald Trump’s administration. March, May 1, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
The request comes after the federal government announced in another trial involving Abrego Garcia that it intends to take him to a third country as soon as he is released from criminal custody.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of being a “contradictory statement” and pointed to previous comments that suggested that DOJ would allow him to go to trial in criminal court before he could take him to a third country.
“Because DOJ has issued a directly contradictory statement on the issue in the last 18 hours, it has requested with respect to delaying the issuance of an order until the government’s cancellation hearing on July 16, as it cannot place any reliance on the statement made on the issue,” the attorney said. “The short delay will prevent the government from eliminating Abrego and allowing the government to provide reliable information about his intent.”
Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant suspected of being a member of the MS-13 gang, is currently jailed in Tennessee on charges of participating in a long-standing conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants across the country. Prosecutors claim he has made more than 100 trips over nine years, usually driving from Texas to his Maryland residence, transporting illegal immigrants, guns and drugs.
The deportation officer brought Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador in March. This is an action that quickly attracted the attention of the public due to the fact that he had previously obtained withholding a removal court order that banned removal into the state. A group of Democrats, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and later a group of Congressmen — highlighted his case and traveled to El Salvador to demand that he be returned to the United States
The Trump administration ultimately encouraged his return to the US at the beginning of June, but as he faces human smuggling charges in Nashville.
Abrego Garcia was suspected of human smuggling in 2022 when Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer pulled him, drove nine other people in his car from Texas to Maryland, unable to find his luggage, and everyone listed Abrego Garcia’s speech as his own. The vehicle that was driving during the traffic stop was registered as an illegal immigrant convicted of immigrant smuggling.
In addition to allegations of human smuggling and gang affiliation, the Salvadra man has been repeatedly charged with domestic abuse by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sula.
Prosecutors admit that Abrego Garcia’s original deportation to El Salvador was incorrectly made, but withholding of his removal order does not prevent the regime from taking him to a third country.
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