ICE can’t immediately detain Ábrego García ahead of Tennessee trial, judge says
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Abrego Garcia remains in US for now as judge takes case under advisement
Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in federal court in Tennessee on Wednesday for a second detention hearing. A federal judge agreed to hear an appeal from the Justice Department to keep him detained in criminal custody pending trial. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw wrapped the hearing after roughly three hours, telling both parties that he would take the case under advisement. The Justice Department’s request to the judge caps off months of confusing and contradictory statements from the Trump administration in the case of Abre go Garcia. Abre Go Garcia was erroneously deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a court order, and returned to the U.s. three months later in June. After months of delay, the administration returned him to the United States where he was slapped with a newly unsealed federal indictment stemming from a 2022 stop-and-go traffic stop in Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and was ordered released pending trial by a judge, who later amended her order to allow him to be kept in federal custody.
Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in federal court in Tennessee on Wednesday for a second detention hearing, after a federal judge agreed to hear an appeal from the Justice Department to keep him detained in criminal custody pending trial.
The Justice Department’s request to U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw caps off months of confusing and contradictory statements from the Trump administration in the case of Abrego Garcia, who was erroneously deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a court order, and returned to the U.S. three months later in June.
The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Robert McGuire, urged Crenshaw in a court filing ahead of Wednesday’s hearing to keep Abrego Garcia detained in criminal custody pending trial, arguing that “there is no combination of bail conditions that can reasonably assure either the safety of the community or the defendant’s appearance in future court proceedings.”
Crenshaw wrapped the hearing after roughly three hours, telling both parties that he would take the case under advisement.
ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS ASK US JUDGE TO ORDER RETURN TO MARYLAND AMID ONGOING CRIMINAL CASE
He did suggest he will take his time in reviewing the evidence, however, telling lawyers for the Justice Department and Abrego Garcia that they should not expect a ruling imminently, or even this week. He did suggest he would issue an order next week shortly before adjourning court.
The longer timeline is likely a welcome relief for Abrego Garcia’s lawyers as they continue to wait for U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, the federal judge in Maryland, to issue an order blocking ICE from immediately deporting their client to a third country pending release from U.S. criminal custody.
Judge Xinis, who has presided over the civil case since March, suggested after a days-long evidentiary hearing Friday that she planned to issue a temporary restraining order requiring ICE to keep Abrego Garcia in custody for a set amount of time before they can deport him to a third country, such as Mexico or South Sudan, as officials indicated last week that they plan to do.
Much of Wednesday’s hearing played out similarly to Abrego’s arraignment in June, led by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes. Judge Holmes had ruled that Abrego Garcia should be released pending trial in the criminal case, though she later agreed to a request from his attorneys to keep him in federal custody to avoid deportation.
Holmes later amended her order to allow Abrego Garcia to be kept in federal custody at the request of his own legal team. His lawyers cited concerns that ICE would immediately take him into immigration custody and deport him to a third country upon his release.
As the hearing on Wednesday stretched into its third hour, there appeared to be scant new evidence or testimony provided that might compel Crenshaw to break with Holmes’s original determination, that Abrego should be released pending trial.
Crenshaw told the Justice Department that he’s having a “hard time understanding” the government’s argument that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that “no conditions” set by a community could control the danger posed by Abrego ahead of his criminal trial.
“That’s a pretty high standard,” he said.
JUDGE SETS STRICT CONDITIONS FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RELEASE AS TRUMP OFFICIALS PURSUE CASE AGAINST HIM
The government said it planned to call just one witness in the hearing— Homeland Security Investigations Agent Peter Joseph, who was also the sole witness last month.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia told the court ahead of the hearing that they did not plan to call any witnesses.
But even that filing highlights the Justice Department’s conflicting statements about its plans for Abrego Garcia, whose case is at the center of two high-profile hearings in Maryland and Tennessee.
After months of delay, the Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S., where he was immediately slapped with a newly unsealed federal indictment charging him with crimes stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty to those charges, and was ordered released pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes.
Senior Justice Department officials and ICE officials conceded to this plan last week, telling U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland that the government would immediately begin removal proceedings to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country, regardless of the status of his criminal case. In doing so, they broke with previous assertions from U.S. officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, who vowed when he was returned that he would remain in U.S. custody for the duration of his trial and any prison time.
SUPREME COURT GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO LIFT STAY HALTING VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS
Asked by Judge Xinis last week whether the government planned to hold Abrego Garcia in ICE custody until his criminal case in Tennessee is over, lawyers for the administration did not mince their words.
“No,” Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn answered simply.
“There’s no intention to just put him in limbo in ICE custody while we wait for the criminal case to unfold,” Guynn told Xinis. “He will be removed, as would any other illegal alien in that process.”
Abrego Garcia’s second detention hearing in Tennessee comes after his legal team asked a federal judge in Maryland last week to impose sanctions on the Trump administration for the administration’s “egregious” and “repeated violations” of discovery obligations, according to the filing.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US, REJECTING TRUMP REQUEST
Xinis also pressed Justice Department officials for details as to when they opened a federal investigation into Abrego Garcia in a separate district in Tennessee, and how the timing of the investigation and federal indictment squared with the government’s testimony in her own court.
She noted that, by the government’s own admission, it began investigating Abrego Garcia in the Middle District of Tennessee on April 28, 2025 — the same time officials were telling the court that the administration was powerless to order a foreign government to return him, in compliance with the court order.
“At the same time that [the government] was saying it had ‘no power to produce’” Abrego Garcia in the U.S., Trump administration officials had “already secured an indictment against him in the Middle District of Tennessee, right?” Xinis asked Justice Department lawyer Bridget O’Hickey.
“Yes your honor,” O’Hickey replied.
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An incredulous Xinis noted that, just six days later, the government testified they had no power to bring him back to the U.S. “Now I have real concerns — as if I haven’t for the last three months,” Xinis noted in response.
“Given the series of unlawful actions” here, I feel like it’s well within my authority to order this hearing — perhaps more than one — to hear testimony from at least one witness with firsthand knowledge, who can answer these questions about the immediate next steps” from the government pending Abrego Garca’s release from custody, she said.
Judge will consider releasing Kilmar Abrego Garcia from jail, possibly leading to his deportation
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. He was returned to the U.S. last month to face human smuggling charges. A federal judge in Tennessee could rule Wednesday on whether to release him from jail to await trial. A decision could allow President Donald Trump’s administration to try to deport the Maryland construction worker for a second time. 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. The smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding, during which Abre Go Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers, but he was allowed to drive on the interstate. The Trump administration claimed Abre go Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, although he wasn’t charged and has repeatedly denied the allegation.
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.
Waverly will review last month’s order by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville to free Abrego Garcia. 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.
Waverly 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 Waverly 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 Waverly’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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Finley reported from Norfolk, Va.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys ask judge to require 72 hours’ notice before he’s deported
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s legal team asked a judge to order that he not be removed from the United States without at least 72 hours notice. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis repeatedly blasted the government for what she said was an insufficient effort to address what exactly will be done to ensure due process for Abre go Garcia if he’s taken into ICE custody following his release. The judge did not rule from the bench but said she would do so soon.Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution. He was brought back to the US. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.s. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held in a Tennessee detention center; he has not been charged with a crime in the U.,S. or El Salvador.
(NEW YORK) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s legal team asked a judge at a hearing Friday to order that he not be removed from the United States without at least 72 hours notice should he be released on bond from detention in Tennessee.
On Day 3 of a hearing in Maryland on the government’s plans for the longtime Maryland resident this week, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis repeatedly blasted the government for what she said was an insufficient effort to address what exactly will be done to ensure due process for Abrego Garcia if he’s taken into ICE custody following his release.
“We’re asking for 72 hours, 72 hours notice, so that my client can have an opportunity to run to whatever is the appropriate court at that moment to get relief before he’s shipped off to an as-yet-unidentified country and he’s potentially subject to torture or persecution in violation of a court order. That’s all we’re asking,” Abrego Garcia’s attorney told the judge.
The judge did not rule from the bench but said she would do so soon.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native, was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
He was brought back to the U.S. last month to face charges in Tennessee of allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. while he was living in Maryland. He has pleaded not guilty.
Government attorneys have said that, should Abrego Garcia be released on bond, he could be deported again, but Abrego Garcia’s legal team has argued he should be transferred from Tennessee to Maryland to await trial.
Judge Xinis, however, acknowledged the government’s position that there’s no ICE detention facility in Maryland.
The judge also said that restoring the status quo would mean returning Abrego Garcia to Maryland as that’s where “he was arrested in Baltimore without any proof” — but the government argued that his removal process started in Texas when he was taken into ICE custody.
“We may have a disagreement on what the status quo is, Your Honor … with respect, we disagree, but obviously your opinion matters more,” the DOJ attorney said.
Xinis said she doesn’t necessarily think sending Abrego Garcia back to his family in Maryland is the “proper full relief,” but added, “I do know there’s a real question in my mind: Does he get the process to start over through Immigration in Maryland?”
The judge also slammed the lack of detailed answers provided by ICE official Thomas Giles during his testimony Thursday, when he was asked to explain the government’s plans for Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
“The reality is, this has been a process. From Day 1, you have taken the presumption of regularity and you have destroyed it, in my view, because I can’t presume anything to be regular in this highly irregular case,” the judge said at the start of Friday’s hearing when a DOJ attorney wasn’t able to produce Abrego Garcia’s detainer document that she had asked for on Thursday.
The government subsequently produced the document later in the hearing.
Declaring that Giles’ testimony “insults my intelligence,” Judge Xinis said that getting specific information is critical due to the extraordinary situation in which the government has already wrongfully deported Abrego Garcia once.
“So this — we’re not operating on a clean slate at all,” she said. “It seems like this would be the case where you’d want to put a little meat on the bones of exactly how you’re going to do this lawfully and constitutionally.”
DOJ attorneys said the government has yet to decide if Abrego Garcia will be removed to a third country or if proceedings to remove him back to El Salvador will be reopened, and that the decision will be made by a case officer once he comes under ICE’s custody.
When the government said an ICE case officer will decide how to move forward with Abrego Garcia’s deportation process once he’s in ICE custody, the judge expressed doubt about the agency’s process, saying Abrego Garcia’s removal process has been “altered, all depending on” the Trump administration’s interests.
“That is plainly insufficient to tell me what’s going to happen to Mr. Abrego apart from what you would have me believe, which is that we’ve given this no thought, no conversation, no pre-planning, we’re just going to roll the dice on Wednesday or whatever day he’s released, if he’s released to ICE custody. And I’m just telling you, I’m not buying that,” Judge Xinis said.
When a DOJ attorney said that’s not a fair characterization of the government’s position, saying the decision will be made by an ICE officer like all other cases, the judge accepted the answer but remarked that it makes their argument “weaker.”
Judge Xinis also repeatedly pressed the government on what she described as an “inconsistent” policy in its third-country removal process — comparing a DHS memo from March to an email advisory ICE sent out to its officers earlier this month, the latter of which described the possibility of a person being removed from the U.S. without an opportunity to contest it based on fear of torture or persecution.
A government attorney replied that “there is no meaningful difference between what’s set forth in the March 30, 2025, process and the July 9 process,” and that should the third-country removal process take place, Abrego Garcia will be given written notice and an opportunity to contest it.
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ICE says it hasn’t decided where Kilmar Abrego Garcia would be deported to — or where he will be held while he waits
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was scheduled to be released on bond on June 16 in Tennessee. He faces federal charges alleging his role in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the U.S. But federal officials have made it clear he will not walk free – instead, he will immediately be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Because an immigration judge’s 2019 order still bars his removal to his home country of El Salvador, the Trump administration has said it will initiate proceedings to deport him to a third, as-yet unidentified country. A DHS official testified for hours in federal court Thursday but provided few specifics about what will happen to him should he enter the agency’s custody next week. The official, Thomas Giles, said ICE has not yet determined what country it will attempt to deport Garcia to, whether it will try to reopen his previous withholding order or even what detention facility he will be held in while that process plays out.
GREENBELT, Md. — A Department of Homeland Security official testified for hours in federal court Thursday but provided few specifics about what will happen to Kilmar Abrego Garcia should he enter the agency’s custody next week.
As of Thursday, Abrego Garcia was scheduled to be released on bond on June 16 in Tennessee, where he faces federal charges alleging his role in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants into the U.S. But federal officials have made it clear he will not walk free – instead, he will immediately be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because an immigration judge’s 2019 order still bars his removal to his home country of El Salvador, the Trump administration has said it will initiate proceedings to deport him to a third, as-yet unidentified country.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is presiding over Abrego Garcia’s habeas petition in Maryland, ordered the Justice Department on Monday to produce a DHS official this week to describe that process. On Thursday, the DOJ called Thomas Giles, a 24-year veteran of DHS, to the witness stand.
Giles, who formerly led ICE’s Los Angeles field office, was elevated earlier this year to serve as ICE’s assistant director for enforcement and removal operations. Giles confirmed what the DOJ had already told Xinis, to wit: If Abrego Garcia is released next week, ICE will take him into custody at the jail where he’s being held. After that, he said, what precisely will happen to Abrego Garcia is up in the air.
Giles said ICE has not yet determined what country it will attempt to deport Abrego Garcia to, whether it will attempt to reopen his previous withholding order or even what detention facility he will be held in while that process plays out.
Judges have criticized the Trump administration in other habeas cases for swiftly moving detainees out of the jurisdictions where they live following their arrest. Under questioning from Sascha N. Rand, an attorney with the law firm Quinn Emanuel who is representing Abrego Garcia, Giles said there was no guarantee he would be held in a facility in Tennessee.
“Is it possible ICE will pick him up from court in Tennessee and drive him a couple hundred miles away,” Rand asked.
Giles said it was.
“Is it possible that the only bed space available next week if he’s released will be in Texas?” Rand asked, referencing the state many high-profile immigration detainees have been moved to, including Virginia’s Dr. Badar Khan Suri.
“It’s possible,” Giles said. “It could be anywhere in the United States.”
More critically, Giles said, ICE would not begin the process of determining what third country it will attempt to deport Abrego Garcia to until he is in their custody.
Under guidance put in place in March by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, deportations to a third country can happen on two tracks. In the first, deportees can be removed to a country that has provided the U.S. “diplomatic assurances that aliens… will not be persecuted or tortured.” If the Department of State believes those assurances to be credible, the deportee may be removed “without the need for further procedures,” according to a memo sent by Noem on March 30.
Giles, under questioning from Rand, said he was aware of only two countries that have been approved by the State Department for that track: Mexico, which will accept deportees from seven other countries, and South Sudan.
Under the second track, DHS would first have to inform Abrego Garcia which country it will attempt to deport him to. He would then have the opportunity to claim fear of persecution or torture if removed to that country and would get a credible fear interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Giles said he did not know if Abrego Garcia would have the right to have an attorney present for that interview.
“Sitting here today sir, do you have any actual knowledge which one of these tracks Mr. Abrego Garcia might be put on next Wednesday if he’s put into ICE custody?” Rand asked.
Giles said he did not.
Trump Administration Gets New Order From Judge in Abrego Garcia Case
Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains in federal custody in Nashville, Tennessee, awaiting trial on human smuggling charges. He has garnered significant attention after being deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March, despite a 2019 court order barring his removal. The administration has insisted the Maryland resident is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, which he and his family have denied. The judge overseeing his criminal case has ordered the administration to adhere to court rules prohibiting public statements that could influence or prejudice a Tennessee jury. He wrote that “all counsel are expected to comply with the Local Rules of this Court,” according to the court docket reviewed by Newsweek. The defendants filed a motion to seeking to ensure jurors are not influenced by government commentary, the defense wrote in their July 2 motion requesting compliance with rule 2.01. The rules note that comments may have “material prejudicial effect,” particularly pointing to character attacks, credibility, reputation, and more. The White House press secretary previously told Newsweek: “Enough is enough”
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The judge overseeing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s criminal case has ordered the Trump administration to adhere to court rules prohibiting public statements that could influence or prejudice a Tennessee jury.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and Abrego Garcia’s legal team for comment via email on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Abrego Garcia remains in federal custody in Nashville, Tennessee, awaiting trial on human smuggling charges. He has garnered significant attention after being deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March, despite a 2019 court order barring his removal. The administration has insisted the Maryland resident is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, which he and his family have denied.
Following a Supreme Court mandate, Abrego Garcia was returned to the U.S. in June and subsequently indicted by a grand jury. He has pleaded not guilty to human trafficking.
Both legal teams have raised concerns that federal immigration agents may detain Abrego Garcia if he were to be released from jail, which they argue would prevent his criminal proceedings from moving forward.
The criminal case will go before a jury, and the defendants filed a motion to seeking to ensure jurors are not influenced by government commentary.
Department of Homeland Security officers stand as protesters gather outside the Federal Courthouse before arguments on whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia can be released from jail on Friday, June 13, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. Department of Homeland Security officers stand as protesters gather outside the Federal Courthouse before arguments on whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia can be released from jail on Friday, June 13, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. AP Photo/George Walker IV
What To Know
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, wrote that “all counsel are expected to comply with the Local Rules of this Court,” according to the court docket reviewed by Newsweek.
Specifically, the order requires “compliance with local criminal rule 2.01.”
What Is Local Criminal Rule 2.01?
Titled, “Release of information concerning criminal proceedings” rule 2.01 outlines various limitations on information and commentary attorneys can say regarding criminal trials in an effort to protect defendant’s right to a fair trial.
Regarding extrajudicial statements, it states that involved attorneys: “must not make an extrajudicial statement (other than a quotation from or reference to public records) that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by public communication, and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter, including especially that will interfere with a fair trial.”
The rules note that comments may have “material prejudicial effect,” particularly pointing to character attacks, credibility, reputation, and more.
The Trump administration has used words like “gangbanger,” “monster,” “illegal predator,” “barbarian” and others to describe Abrego Garcia, the defense wrote in their July 2 motion requesting compliance with rule 2.01. They called this part of “a public disparagement campaign” against Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia was among the 230 migrants who were deported to El Salvador’s notorious supervision Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, in March this year. His deportation occurred due to what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later admitted was an “administrative error.”
What People Are Saying
Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously told Newsweek: “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien. We have said it for months and it remains true to this day: he will never go free on American soil.”
Ama Frimpong, legal director of immigration advocacy group CASA and part of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s legal team, previously told Newsweek: “Every judge at every level who has reviewed Kilmar’s case over the last few months has ruled in his favor, from orders requiring his return to the U.S. to decisions requiring his release from criminal custody. The fact that ICE could still detain or deport Kilmar after his release from criminal custody undermines the courts, and is a real threat to the very ideas of due process, liberty, and justice. ICE must immediately abandon this cruel and inhumane political stunt that has continued to cause so much trauma and pain to Kilmar and his family. Enough is enough.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously told Newsweek in a statement: “The Justice Department’s Grand Jury Indictment against Abrego Garcia proves the unhinged Democratic Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools. Abrego Garcia was never an innocent ‘Maryland Man’— Abrego Garcia is an illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker who has spent his entire life abusing innocent people, especially women and the most vulnerable. Abrego Garcia will now return to the United States to answer for his crimes and meet the full force of American justice.”
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, rejecting the prosecution’s assertions that he was a danger, at his arraignment hearing where he pleaded not guilty, per The Associated Press: “If Mr. Abrego Garcia is so dangerous, this violent MS-13 guy, why did they wait almost three years to indict him on this? Why wait until literally after the Supreme Court told them they denied him due process and they had to bring him back before they investigate him?”
What Happens Next?
A court hearing is scheduled for July 16 to address Abrego Garcia’s custody status and the progression of his case.
Update 7/3/25, 1:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 7/3/25, 12:37 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/07/23/abrego-garcia-ice-deportation-judge-order