Attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia have petitioned a federal judge in Maryland to ensure his return to that state once he is released from a Tennessee jail. This move aims to block probable efforts by immigration authorities to promptly deport Abrego Garcia.
The Maryland construction worker became a focal point in discussions about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies after being erroneously deported to El Salvador, his country of origin, in March. Since being brought back to the U.S. on June 7, he has been in jail in Tennessee, facing federal charges related to human smuggling.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville ruled that Abrego Garcia is entitled to be released while awaiting trial. However, on Wednesday, she decided to keep him in custody for a few additional days, due to concerns that U.S. immigration authorities might quickly attempt to deport him once more.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Maryland, where his wife is suing the Trump administration over his March deportation, have offered up a possible solution. They’ve asked the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit to direct the government to bring him to Maryland while he awaits trial in Tennessee.
“If this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys wrote in their request to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt.
Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland, just outside Washington, with his American wife and children for more than a decade. His deportation violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that barred his expulsion to his native country. The judge had found that Abrego Garcia faced a credible threat from gangs who had terrorized him and his family.
The Trump administration described its violation of the immigration judge’s 2019 order as an administrative error. Trump and other officials doubled down on claims Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, an accusation that Abrego Garcia denies.
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.
Those charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage.
Holmes, the magistrate judge in Tennessee, wrote in a ruling on Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community.
During a court hearing on Wednesday, Holmes set specific conditions for his release that included Abrego Garcia living with his brother, a U.S. citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors can’t prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him.
Holmes expressed doubts about her own power to require anything more than prosecutors using their best efforts to secure the cooperation of ICE.
“I have no reservations about my ability to direct the local U.S. Attorney’s office,” the judge said. “I don’t think I have any authority over ICE.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire told the judge he would do “the best I can” to secure the cooperation of ICE. But the prosecutor noted, “That’s a separate agency with separate leadership and separate directions. I will coordinate, but I can’t tell them what to do.”
