Federal Judge Orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Release Before Trial

A federal judge ruled that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongly removed from the U.S. earlier this year and imprisoned in El Salvador, should not be detained pending trial on immigrant smuggling charges. 

In a sharp rebuke to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Nashville-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes found that prosecutors failed to produce enough plausible evidence that Abrego Garcia posed a danger.

“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,” Holmes wrote.

Abrego Garcia will likely remain in federal custody despite Holmes’ ruling, as the government has said in court filings that he will be arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents immediately after his release.

Over two months ago, the Trump administration removed Abrego Garcia from the U.S. and transported him to an El Salvadoran prison in violation of a court order. He was held in El Salvador for weeks even after the Supreme Court ordered the government to “facilitate” his return. 

Abrego Garcia’s removal sparked outrage across the U.S. amid rising concerns about President Donald Trump’s effort to undermine the right to due process by summarily deporting both legal and nonlegal migrants from the country.

The Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. earlier this month and indicted him for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants within the U.S. The evidence against him relies on allegations from five unnamed co-conspirators. 

The case prompted the former chief of the criminal division for the U.S. attorney’s office in Nashville — the office that is now prosecuting Abrego Garcia — to abruptly quit over concerns that it was being pursued for political reasons.

In her order, Holmes questioned the credibility of the co-conspirators while noting that Abrego Garcia “has no reported criminal history of any kind.” The judge highlighted that several of the co-conspirators in the case secured benefits in exchange for their testimonies in the case against Abrego Garcia.

The judge noted that one of the co-conspirators has two prior felony convictions, has previously been deported five times and was released early from a 30-month federal prison sentence for human smuggling in exchange for his cooperation.

“The Court gives little weight to this hearsay testimony,” Holmes wrote.

The judge ordered federal marshals to produce Abrego Garcia for a hearing Wednesday to review conditions of his release.

Immediately after Holmes’ order, the DOJ filed a stay motion to U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, an Obama appointee.