Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be released from jail, put under ICE supervision in Baltimore
- Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been in jail since he was brought back in June to face criminal charges in Tennessee.
- A pair of court orders from July 23 mean Abrego Garcia will be released from jail and put under ICE supervision in Baltimore.
- A request by his attorneys to delay his release 30 days is pending.
NASHVILLE − Federal judges on July 23 ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be released from jail in the coming weeks and put under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maryland, where his family lives.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, of Tennessee, ruled Abrego Garcia, 29, must be released from jail before trial on criminal charges he faces in Tennessee. However, he will remain in jail for an additional 30 days, which defense attorneys requested with the consent of prosecutors.
"The Government has failed to show on appeal that this case is one of the 'carefully limited exception[s]' where detention pending trial is justified, entitling Abrego to his liberty in the meantime," Crenshaw wrote.
The same day, a judge in Maryland said Abrego Garcia must be transferred to the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore. If ICE wants to deport Abrego Garcia, it must give him 72 hours notice so he can assert claims of credible fear or seek any other relief, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, in Maryland, wrote.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys in Tennessee had recently asked that any order to release him from jail be delayed for 30 days. While they had argued Abego Garcia has a right to be let out of jail, they said government officials planned to apprehend Abrego Garcia and begin deportation proceedings if he was released.
Crenshaw opted to leave that decision for Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, of Tennessee, who will take over the case and rule on the request for a 30-day delayed release from jail in the future.
After the rulings in Tennessee and Maryland, Abrego Garcia's lawyers said the cases marked a turning point in the months-long legal battle. The federal judges affirmed constitutional protections and judicial oversight remain critical, even with regard to immigration enforcement, lawyers said.
"These rulings are a powerful rebuke of the government’s lawless conduct and a critical safeguard for Kilmar’s due process rights,” Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a lawyer for Abrego Garcia, said in a statement.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The government has continuously alleged Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 street gang, while offering little proof to substantiate that claim. In posts on X, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, repeated these allegations after the rulings.
Abrego Garcia, she said, "will never walk America's streets again." She slammed the Tennessee judge over the decision, saying the ruling is "LAWLESS AND INSANE."
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said Abrego Garcia had no right to remain in the country.
"This local district judge has grossly overstepped her authority by attempting to interfere with ICE efforts to detain − pending removal − a criminal illegal alien who poses a threat to the safety of our communities," Jackson said in a statement.
Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. without authorization around 2011. Immigration authorities issued a final order of removal for Abrego Garcia in 2019, but they said he could not be released to his home country of El Salvador due to credible fears of persecution by gangs in that country.
Abrego Garcia is a sheet metal worker who lived in Maryland with his wife and three children.
The U.S. deported him to a Salvadoran mega prison in March, prompting a unanimous rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court to bring him back. He was brought back June 6 to face charges of alien smuggling, centering around a 2022 traffic stop in Cookeville, Tennessee. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, visited Abrego Garcia while he was held in Salvadoran custody. In a statement after Xinis' ruling in Maryland, Van Hollen said every person deserves the right to due process afforded by the Constitution.
"While I have no doubt the Administration will continue working to undermine the rights of Mr. Abrego Garcia, we will continue fighting to see them upheld in a court of law," he said, "because threatening the rights of anyone in this nation poses a threat to the rights of all.”
Contributing: Ruben Montoya.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.
This story has been updated to add additional information.