NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge in Tennessee could rule Wednesday on whether to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail to await trial on human smuggling charges, a decision that could allow President Donald Trump’s administration to try to deport the Maryland construction worker for a second time.
Lawyers for the Justice Department have said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will detain Abrego Garcia if he’s freed. ICE officials have said they will initiate deportation proceedings against the Salvadoran national and will possibly try to send him to a third country such as Mexico or South Sudan.
Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over the Republican Trump’s immigration policies when he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That expulsion violated a U.S. immigration judge’s 2019 order that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.
The Trump administration claimed Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, although he wasn’t charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation. Facing mounting pressure and a U.S. Supreme Court order, the administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. last month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called “preposterous.”
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. scheduled a hearing in Nashville to consider the matter of releasing Abrego Garcia from jail to await his trial.
Crenshaw will review last month’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville that Abrego Garcia is eligible for release. Holmes determined that Abrego Garcia was not a flight risk or a danger to the community and set various conditions for his release, including wearing an ankle bracelet and living with his brother in Maryland.
Crenshaw scheduled Wednesday’s hearing following a motion by federal prosecutors to revoke Holmes’ release order. The prosecutors argue Abrego Garcia is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Holmes has kept Abrego Garcia in jail at the request of his lawyers over concerns the Trump administration will try to deport him upon release. The attorneys asked Holmes to keep him in jail until Wednesday’s hearing before Crenshaw to review her release order.
The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Police in Tennessee suspected human smuggling, but he was allowed to drive on.
Abrego Garcia lived and worked in Maryland for more than a decade, doing construction and raising a family. Abrego Garcia’s American wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, is suing the Trump administration in federal court in Maryland over his wrongful deportation in March, while trying to prevent any attempts to expel him again.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland to order the government to send him to Maryland if he’s released in Tennessee, a request that aims to prevent his expulsion before trial.
In court on Friday, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys also asked for at least a 72-hour hold that would prevent his immediate deportation. Attorney Andrew Rossman called it the “critical bottom-line protection” needed to prevent a potentially egregious violation of due process rights.
Xinis didn’t rule from the bench Friday but said she’d issue an order before Crenshaw’s hearing on Wednesday.
If Abrego Garcia is released into ICE custody, his lawyers have vowed to fight expulsion efforts within the U.S. immigration court system, which is part of the Justice Department.
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This story has been corrected to show the district judge’s surname is Crenshaw, not Waverly.
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Finley reported from Norfolk, Va.
