Posted on 06/22/25
| News Source: The Hill
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador then returned to the U.S. amid a legal battle, was ordered released from jail on Sunday by a Tennessee judge while he awaits federal trial.
The government, however, is expected to quickly detain him upon his release, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes scheduled a Wednesday hearing to discuss.
The Justice Department has filed a motion to appeal the judge’s release order.
At a detention hearing on June 13, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial.
The new charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia was stopped for speeding, and an officer questioned why he was traveling with so many people without luggage.
The indictment alleges Abrego Garcia falsely told the officer he was driving construction workers from St. Louis, but he was actually on one of multiple trips organized to transport migrants who were living in the country without legal status.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia have cast the case as one of trumped-up charges and a way for the administration to save face after allowing him to be wrongly imprisoned for nearly three months.