Abrego Garcia’s attorneys throw last-minute Hail Mary to save him from deportation

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys are requesting he remain locked up in order to prevent the Trump administration from swiftly deporting him from the U.S.

In an emergency motion filed Friday, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys requested a federal magistrate judge in Tennessee delay his release from criminal custody until a July 16 hearing, according to court documents. This maneuver, his attorneys claimed, would prevent the Trump administration from quickly deporting him and provide the government more time to explain its intentions with the suspected human smuggler.

“This is the first time the government has represented, to anyone, that it intended not to deport Mr. Abrego back to El Salvador following a trial on these charges, but to deport him to a third country immediately,” his attorneys stated to U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes Friday.

The attorneys acknowledged the “irony” of their request, noting in their motion that Abrego Garcia had spent the last two weeks contesting his detention in Tennessee and federal prosecutors had previously requested he remain detained before his trial. The Salvadoran man could possibly be released from custody as early as Friday, unless the judge grants a delay.

y Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)The request comes after the federal government announced in a separate court case involving Abrego Garcia that it intended to remove him to a third country — a country that is not El Salvador — as soon as he’s released from criminal custody.

Abrego Garcia’s counsel accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of “contradictory statements,” pointing to previous comments the DOJ made to the media that suggested they would allow him to be tried in criminal court before removing him to a third country.

“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 until the July 16 hearing on the government’s motion for revocation,” the attorneys stated. “A short delay will prevent the government from removing Mr. Abrego and allow time for the government to provide reliable information concerning its intentions.”

Abrego Garcia, an illegal migrant who is suspected of being an MS-13 gang member, is currently being jailed in Tennessee on charges that he participated in a years-long conspiracy to smuggle illegal migrants across the country. Prosecutors allege he conducted more than 100 trips over the course of nine years, typically driving from Texas to his residence in Maryland, transporting illegal migrants, guns and narcotics.

Deportation officers removed Abrego Garcia back to El Salvador in March — an action that quickly attracted national attention due to the fact that he previously earned a withholding of removal court order that prohibited his removal to the country. A slate of Democrats — including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and, later, a group of House lawmakers — traveled to El Salvador to highlight his case and demand he be returned to the U.S.

The Trump administration ultimately facilitated his return to the U.S. earlier in June, but in order for him to face human smuggling charges in Nashville.

Abrego Garcia was suspected of human smuggling as early as 2022 when a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer pulled him over and observed that he was driving nine other people in his car from Texas to Maryland, with no luggage to be found and everyone listing Abrego Garcia’s address as their own. The vehicle he was driving during that traffic stop was registered to an illegal migrant convicted of migrant smuggling.

In addition to the human smuggling charges and suspicion of gang affiliation, the Salvadoran man was repeatedly accused of domestic abuse by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura.

While prosecutors have acknowledged that Abrego Garcia’s original deportation to El Salvador was made in error, his withholding of removal order does not prevent the administration from removing him to a third country.

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