A federal judge in Tennessee is set to order the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year and is now facing human smuggling charges in the United States. The decision came on Sunday, when US mmagistrate Judge Barbara Holmes denied the government’s motion to keep Abrego Garcia detained while he awaits trial. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to finalize the conditions of his release.However, the US government has already filed a motion to appeal the ruling and has requested a stay on the release order. Agencies suggest that the US administration would not set Garcia free, as the Customs Enforcement might take him into custody and try to deport him.
Who is Abrego Garcia? What are the allegations levied against him ?
Originally from El Salvador, Abrego Garcia crossed into the United States illegally around 2011. In 2019, he was detained by immigration officials in Maryland. García has no criminal record in either the US or El Salvador and has never been charged with any gang-related activity. However, Trump officials claim he has ties to MS-13 — a violent criminal gang that started in Los Angeles in the 1980s and later spread to Central America.The investigation gained momentum after the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to facilitate his return from El Salvador, responding to rising public and legal pressure.Also read |Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife once begged for protection from husband, new audio reveals
What does the court say about Garcia’s detention?
In her ruling, Judge Holmes acknowledged that the release order may be “little more than an academic exercise,” given ICE’s probable intervention. Still, she concluded that the government had not presented sufficient evidence to prove Abrego Garcia posed a flight risk, a threat to the community, or a risk of obstructing justice.“Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego’s release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community,” she wrote.During the June 13 hearing, acting US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued that ICE’s likely deportation attempt was a valid reason to keep Abrego Garcia in custody. Holmes countered that it was up to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether prosecution or deportation should take precedence.Assistant Federal Public Defender Will Allensworth, who represents Abrego Garcia, noted that while a deportation to El Salvador is barred, the government could consider removal to a third country. However, such a transfer would require proof that the receiving country agrees not to return him to El Salvador.
