Trump administration plans to re-deport Abrego Garcia, Justice Department says

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2 days ago

The US Justice Department says it intends to try Kilmar Abrego Garcia on federal smuggling charges before it moves to deport him.
US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tennessee, recently ruled that Mr Abrego Garcia had a right to be released from jail while awaiting trial on the smuggling charges.
But she decided on Wednesday to keep him in custody for at least a few more days over concerns US immigration officials would swiftly detain him and try to deport him again.
But Department of Justice spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told the Associated Press that Mr Abrego Garcia would first be tried in court on the charges.
"This defendant has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again," Mr Gilmartin said.
Mr Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies when he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March.
Facing mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned him this month to face the smuggling charges.
Mr Abrego Garcia's attorneys characterised this move as an attempt to justify his erroneous deportation.
As Mr Abrego Garcia's criminal case has moved forward, concerns are growing that he will be swiftly deported upon his release from jail in Tennessee.
His lawyers filed an emergency request on Thursday to a federal judge in Maryland to order the government to take Mr Abrego Garcia to that state upon release.
This arrangement would prevent his deportation before trial.
"If this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland," the attorneys wrote.
Mr Abrego Garcia had lived and worked as a construction worker in Maryland with his American wife and children for more than a decade before his deportation in March.
His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is suing the Trump administration over his deportation in the Maryland federal court where Mr Abrego Garcia's attorneys filed their emergency request.
"We have concerns that the government may try to remove Mr Abrego Garcia quickly over the weekend," one of his attorneys, Jonathan Cooper, told US District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, during a conference call on Thursday afternoon.
Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn acknowledged on the call that the US government planned to deport Mr Abrego Garcia to a "third country" that was not El Salvador.
But he said there was no timeline for the deportation plans.
"We do plan to comply with the orders we've received from this court and other courts," he said.
"But there's no timeline for these specific proceedings."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson posted on X later on Thursday about the matter.
"Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States to face trial for the egregious charges against him," she said in the post.
"He will face the full force of the American justice system — including serving time in American prison for the crimes he's committed."
Judge Xinis said during the conference call that she could not move as quickly as Mr Abrego Garcia's attorneys would like.
She said she had to consider the Trump administration's pending motions to dismiss the case before she could rule on the emergency request.
The judge scheduled a July 7 court hearing in Maryland to discuss the emergency request and other matters.
Judge Holmes, the magistrate judge in Tennessee, wrote in a ruling on Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show Mr Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community.
During a court hearing on Wednesday, Judge Holmes set specific conditions for Mr Abrego Garcia's release that included him living with his brother, a US citizen, in Maryland.
But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors could not prevent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him.
Judge Holmes ordered Mr Abrego Garcia's lawyers and prosecutors to file briefs on the matter on Thursday and Friday respectively.
AP