Federal judge denies detention for alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia
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Federal judge denies detention for alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia
A federal judge in Tennessee has denied the government’s request to hold Kilmar Abrego Garcia in continued detention while his criminal case proceeds. He was erroneously deported to El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. to face federal prosecution on charges of trafficking undocumented migrants and conspiring with others to do so. His case has become a national flashpoint in the broader fight over Trump’s hard-line immigration policies in his second term. The government can, and will likely, appeal the judge’s decision, though he will remain in custody until at least a hearing that has been scheduled to determine conditions of release, which is likely to take place in the coming weeks. The criminal case against AbreGO Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member, comes after a high-profile, protracted legal fight over his deportation and the Trump administration’s efforts to delay his return.
A federal judge in Tennessee has denied the government’s request to hold Kilmar Abrego Garcia in continued detention while his criminal case proceeds.
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadorian migrant who was erroneously deported to El Salvador before being returned to the U.S. to face federal prosecution on charges of trafficking undocumented migrants and conspiring with others to do so.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes denied the government’s request to hold Abrego Garcia, though he will remain in custody until at least a hearing that has been scheduled to determine conditions of release, which the government can, and will likely, appeal.
Abrego Garcia appeared at his arraignment and hearing on the government’s detention on June 13. According to the judge’s decision on Sunday, “the sole circumstance about which the government and Abrego [Garcia] may agree in this case is the likelihood that Abrego [Garcia] will remain in custody regardless of the outcome of the issues raised in the government’s motion for detention.”
RETURNED ILLEGAL ABREGO GARCIA PLEADS NOT GUILTY; JUDGE YET TO RULE ON PRETRIAL CUSTODY
Holmes said in her decision that the court found no detention hearing is authorized under the Bail Reform Act because the government failed to prove the case involved a minor and that Abrego Garcia is considered a flight risk.
Additionally, the court found that after considering several factors, the government failed to prove that Abrego Garcia poses an irremediable danger to the community.
RETURNED SALVADORAN MIGRANT KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA ARRAIGNED ON FEDERAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES IN TENNESSEE
Still, even if Abrego Garcia is to be released, ICE will arrest and detain him immediately via civil immigration process, separately from the criminal case.
The criminal case against Abrego Garcia, an alleged MS-13 member, comes after a high-profile, protracted legal fight over his deportation and the Trump administration’s efforts to delay his return to the U.S., even after the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” his release earlier this year.
The indictment alleges that Abrego Garica was part of a smuggling ring that helped bring immigrants to the U.S. illegally and smuggle them across the country. According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia and his co-conspirators made at least 100 trips between Texas and Maryland between 2016 and 2025, when he was deported.
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Special Agent Peter T. Joseph told prosecutors on June 13 that he was first assigned to Abrego Garcia’s case in April 2025, when he was still detained in El Salvador.
Since then, Joseph said, he has reviewed footage from Abrego Garcia’s 2022 traffic stop, which has emerged as the basis of the human smuggling charges.
At the time, Joseph told prosecutors, Abrego Garcia had been driving a vehicle with nine passengers and was pulled over while driving from St. Louis to Maryland with an expired license.
Six of the nine passengers in the vehicle have since been identified as being in the U.S. illegally, Joseph said, adding that one passenger in the van told officers that he was born in 2007, which would have made him just 15 at the time.
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Abrego Garcia’s legal team has vehemently disputed his alleged status as an MS-13 member. Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges.
His case has become a national flashpoint in the broader fight over Trump’s hard-line immigration policies in his second White House term.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleads not guilty to human smuggling charges
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was erroneously sent to a prison in El Salvador and returned to the United States last week. The 29-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal immigrants for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal immigrants. A federal judge declined to rule on whether he should be detained while awaiting trial and said she would issue a written decision “sooner rather than later” The Trump administration has alleged that Abre go Garcia is a member of MS-13, which he and his attorneys have repeatedly denied. The arraignment and detention hearing mark the latest chapter in the more-than-three-month legal battle since the Trump administration sent Abre Go Garcia to a high-security prison in the Salvadoran country.
In an arraignment at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal immigrants for financial gain and unlawful transportation of illegal immigrants for monetary gain.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Holmes declined to rule on whether Abrego Garcia should be detained while awaiting trial and said she would issue a written decision “sooner rather than later.”
Prosecutors said there is “significant motivation” for Abrego Garcia to flee if released on bail. But after six hours of arguments and testimony, Holmes expressed skepticism about information provided by a federal investigator. Much of it was secondhand, she said.
The arraignment and detention hearing mark the latest chapter in the more-than-three-month legal battle since the Trump administration sent Abrego Garcia, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., to a high-security prison in El Salvador, in what it initially described as an “administrative error.”
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia and the Justice Department did not immediately return requests for comment.
The 29-year-old was arrested in Maryland on March 12 and sent to the notorious prison with hundreds of other men, who the Trump administration claimed were gang members.
The Trump administration has alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, which Abrego Garcia and his attorneys have repeatedly denied.
In April, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia to the United States. The matter also went to the Supreme Court, which too ruled that the administration should “facilitate” his return.
Despite the rulings, the administration resisted returning Abrego Garcia for months. Then last week, El Salvador returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. to face the smuggling charges.
His attorneys argued in court filings this week that he is not a flight risk and that legal standards to keep him detained have not been met.
The government accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms, abusing the women he transported and taking part in a killing in El Salvador. However, he is not charged with crimes of this nature.
Last week, the judge warned federal prosecutors that she cannot detain someone on claims.
Abrego Garcia’s indictment prompted Ben Schrader, the former chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, to resign.
“It has been an incredible privilege to serve as a prosecutor with the Department of Justice, where the only job description I’ve ever known is to do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons,” Schrader wrote on social media last week.
Ahead of Friday’s arraignment, Abrego Garcia’s wife held a news conference and read a message from her jailed husband to reporters.
“‘To all the families still fighting to be reunited after a family separation, or if you too are in the detention, Kilmar wants you to have faith,’ he said,” Jennifer Vasquez Sura said. “‘These dark times are where we’re facing all the tribulations that God has put in our path. But keep praying and keep fighting that the light will always come, will come soon for all of us, and you too will be able to see your family again.’”