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, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again.”
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.”
In a response to the request by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys Friday, acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire agreed to delaying Abrego Garcia’s release. He reiterated his stance that Abrego Garcia should remain in jail before trial. The prosecutor also said he lacks jurisdiction over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stating he has no way to prevent Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
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.”
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.
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 that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
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.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville wrote in a ruling Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community.
During a court hearing Wednesday, 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.
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Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.
Travis Loller And Ben Finley, The Associated Press
