logo
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Scores Win Over Trump Admin in Emergency Appeal

Kilmar Abrego Garcia Scores Win Over Trump Admin in Emergency Appeal

Miami Herald7 hours ago

On Friday, Robert E. McGuire, acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, ruled that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should remain in jail at the request of his own legal team who said they feared he could be deported if released from custody.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours.
Garcia attracted widespread attention in March when he was deported to his native El Salvador in what federal officials later admitted was an "administrative error." The Trump administration insists Garcia is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, which he and his family have denied.
Whilst being held in a Salvadorian mega prison, Garcia was visited by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, and his case became a cause against the backdrop of Trump's vow to crackdown on foreign criminal gangs and illegal immigration.
In June, Garcia was returned to the U.S. where he was charged with human trafficking, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying he played a "significant role" in a people smuggling ring.
Garcia pled not guilty to the charges and his legal team said the federal government's actions against him amount to an "abuse of power." Originally, Garcia entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager, but he was granted protection from deportation by an immigration judge who said he could face violence from gangs in his native country.
On June 22, Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes of Nashville ordered Garcia to be released on bail, saying she did not believe he was a flight risk or a threat to the wider community. This decision was appealed by the federal government, but U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw of Tennessee backed Holmes's ruling and said Garcia could be released.
However, Garcia's legal team itself requested he remain in custody, saying they feared he would be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if released from prison. In a motion filed on Friday, his attorneys wrote: "The irony of this request is not lost on anyone."
The attorneys said there had been "contradictory statements" from the Department of Justice (DOJ) which in a court hearing in Maryland on Thursday indicated Garcia would be deported to a third country. However, the same day, a DOJ spokesperson informed the Associated Press that Garcia would face trial before being deported.
Garcia's attorneys on Friday requested that he be held in jail until a July 16 court hearing in which a request from prosecutors to revoke his release order prior to trial will be heard.
The trafficking charges against Garcia originate from a 2022 incident in which police said they stopped him for speeding in Tennessee, then found nine passengers in his vehicle without luggage.
In their motion submitted on Friday, Garcia's attorneys said: "Because DOJ has made directly contradictory statements on this issue in the last 18 hours, and because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the DOJ, we respectfully request to delay the issuance of the release order."
Referring to Garcia they added: "In a just world, he would not seek to prolong his detention further."
On Thursday, DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told the Associated Press that Garcia "has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again."
If he avoids deportation, Garcia will go on trial on human trafficking charges with prosecutors alleging he was involved with brining illegal migrants from Texas to other states between 2016 and 2025. He has pled guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
Related Articles
Donald Trump Outlines Next Steps After Supreme Court RulingsTrump's Immigration Approval Rating Hits New Low, Poll ShowsIndian Influencers Gain Viral Fame With Repeated Crossings of US BorderSatellite Images Show Where Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' Is Being Built
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump cancels U.S.-Canadian trade talks over tech taxes
Trump cancels U.S.-Canadian trade talks over tech taxes

UPI

time7 minutes ago

  • UPI

Trump cancels U.S.-Canadian trade talks over tech taxes

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on May 6. Trump on Friday suspended trade talks due to Canada's new Digital Services Tax. File Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo June 28 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump cited potential Canadian taxes on U.S. tech companies as his reason for ending trade talks with Canada on Friday. The tech taxes on Amazon, Google, Meta and other U.S. tech firms are due on Monday, and Trump said it is a deal-breaker. "We have just been informed that Canada ... has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American technology companies," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday. He called the tax a "direct and blatant attack on our country" and accused Canada of "copying the European Union, which has done the same thing." "We are hereby terminating all discussions on trade with Canada, effective immediately," Trump said. His administration in the coming week will notify Canadian officials of the tariff that it will have to pay to do business in the United States, Trump added. Trump last week attended the G7 economic trade summit hosted by Canada and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and sought common ground on trade talks, The Washington Post reported. Officials at U.S. tech firms oppose the Canadian tax, the amount of which is based on the revenues generated by Canadians' use of e-commerce sites, social media and the sales of data. All tech companies that generate more than $14.59 million from such services would be subject to the new 3% Digital Services Tax. The tax is retroactive to 2022 and could cost U.S.-based tech firms up to $3 billion, NBC News reported. Upon learning of Trump halting trade talks, Canadian officials on Friday limited U.S. steel imports and placed a 50% surcharge on steel imports that surpass the quota. Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the surcharge will help to protect Canadian steel against what he called "unjust U.S. tariffs." He said the Canadian government is prepared to take additional actions, if necessary.

Schumer to force reading of 1,000-page GOP mega bill, delaying it by half a day
Schumer to force reading of 1,000-page GOP mega bill, delaying it by half a day

The Hill

time16 minutes ago

  • The Hill

Schumer to force reading of 1,000-page GOP mega bill, delaying it by half a day

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) told Democratic senators Saturday that he will force the clerks to read the 1,000-page Republican megabill on the Senate floor once Republicans vote to proceed to the legislation, a procedural act of defiance that will take an estimated 12 hours and delay final passage of President Trump's agenda by half a day — at least. Schumer told his caucus to prepare to force a full reading of the bill, according to a Democratic source familiar with the internal discussion over floor strategy. The question is whether Senate GOP leaders will force the clerks to read the bill late into Saturday night and early Sunday morning to complete the time-and energy-consuming task or whether staff will get some time to sleep before the Senate is expected to launch into a multi-hour series of votes known as a vote-a-rama. Senate Republicans were anticipating that Schumer might force a reading of the bill as an act of protest. This is a developing story.

Democrats will force out-loud reading of 940-page megabill
Democrats will force out-loud reading of 940-page megabill

Politico

time21 minutes ago

  • Politico

Democrats will force out-loud reading of 940-page megabill

Senate Republicans released updated megabill text late Friday that would make sharp cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act's solar and wind tax credits after a late-stage push by President Donald Trump to crack down further on the incentives. The text would require solar and wind generation projects seeking to qualify for the law's clean electricity production and investment tax credits to be placed in service by the end of 2027 — significantly more restrictive than an earlier proposal by the Senate Finance Committee that tied eligibility to when a project begins construction. The changes came after Trump urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to crack down on the wind and solar credits and align the measure more closely with reconciliation text, H.R.1, that passed the House, as POLITICO reported earlier on Friday. The changes are likely to put some moderate GOP senators, who have backed a slower schedule for sunsetting those incentives, in a tough position. They'll be forced to choose between rejecting Trump's agenda or allowing the gutting of tax credits that could lead to canceled projects and job losses in their states — something renewable energy advocates are also warning about. 'We are literally going to have not enough electricity because Trump is killing solar. It's that serious,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) responded on X early Saturday. 'We need a bunch of new power on the grid, and nothing is as available as solar. Everything else takes a while. Meantime, expect shortages and high prices. Stupid.' The revised text would retain the investment and production tax credits for baseload sources, such as nuclear, geothermal, hydropower or energy storage, as proposed in the Finance Committee's earlier proposal. But it would make other significant changes, including extending a tax credit for clean hydrogen production until 2028. The panel's earlier proposal would have eliminated the credit after this year. And despite vocal lobbying by the solar industry, the proposal would maintain an abrupt cut to the tax incentive supporting residential solar power. The committee's earlier proposal would have eliminated that credit six months after the enactment of the bill; now the updated draft proposes repealing it at the end of this year. It would also deny certain wind and solar leasing arrangements from accessing the climate law's clean electricity investment and production tax credits, but, in a notable change, removed earlier language specifically disallowing rooftop solar. And it would move up the timeline for certain rules barring foreign entities of concern from accessing those credits. The bill would move up the termination date for electric vehicle tax credits to Sept. 30, compared to six months after enactment in the earlier Finance text. The credit for EV chargers would extend through June 2026. The new text also provides a bonus incentive for advanced nuclear facilities built in communities with high levels of employment in the nuclear industry. And the bill makes metallurgical coal eligible for the advanced manufacturing production tax credit through 2029. Sam Ricketts, co-founder of S2 Strategies, a clean energy policy consulting group, said the new draft is going to 'screw' ratepayers, kill jobs and undermine U.S. economic competitiveness. 'All just to give fossil fuel executives more profits,' he said. 'Or to own the libs. Insanity.' Josh Siegel contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store