US will try to deport Abrego Garcia before his trial, Justice Department
attorney says
[July 08, 2025]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — The U.S. government would initiate deportation
proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he's released from jail
before he stands trial on human smuggling charges in Tennessee, a
Justice Department attorney told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday.
The disclosure by U.S. lawyer Jonathan Guynn contradicts statements by
spokespeople for the Justice Department and the White House, who said
last month that Abrego Garcia would stand trial and possibly spend time
in an American prison before the government moves to deport him.
Guynn made the revelation during a federal court hearing in Maryland,
where Abrego Garcia's American wife is suing the Trump administration
over his mistaken deportation in March and trying to prevent him from
being expelled again.
Guynn said U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would detain Abrego
Garcia once he’s released from jail and send him to a “third country”
that isn’t his native El Salvador. However, Guynn said he didn’t know
which country that would be.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said trying to determine what will
happen to Abrego Garcia has been “like trying to nail Jello to a wall."
She scheduled a hearing for Thursday for U.S. officials to explain
possible next steps if Abrego Garcia is released.
Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint over President Donald Trump’s
immigration policies when he was deported in March to a notorious
megaprison in his native El Salvador. The Trump administration claimed
he was in the MS-13 gang, although Abrego Garcia was never charged with
a crime and has repeatedly denied the allegation.
When the Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, it violated a U.S.
immigration judge’s order in 2019 that shielded him from being sent to
his native country. The judge had determined that Abrego Garcia likely
faced persecution by local gangs that had terrorized him and his family
and prompted him to flee to the U.S.
Facing increasing pressure and a Supreme Court order, the Trump
administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. last month to face
federal human smuggling charges. The charges stem from a 2022 traffic
stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a
vehicle with nine passengers without luggage.
Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers told a judge that some
government witnesses cooperated to get favors regarding their
immigration status or criminal charges they were facing.
They've also accused the Trump administration of bringing Abrego Garcia
back “to convict him in the court of public opinion” with the intention
of deporting him before he can defend himself at trial.
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Jennifer Vasquez Sura, center, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia,
joins supporters of Abrego Garcia as they rally outside of the U.S.
District Court in Greenbelt, Md., where a hearing was scheduled to
be held on returning him to Maryland, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
A federal judge in Nashville was preparing to release Abrego Garcia,
determining he's not a flight risk or a danger. But she agreed to
keep Abrego Garcia behind bars at the request of his own attorneys,
who raised concerns the U.S. would try to immediately deport him.
In court documents, Abrego Garcia's lawyers cited “contradictory
statements” by the Trump administration. For example, Guynn told
Xinis on June 26 that ICE planned to deport Abrego Garcia, though he
didn't say when.
Later that day, DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told The Associated
Press that the Justice Department intends to try Abrego Garcia on
the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson posted on X that day that
Abrego Garcia "will face the full force of the American justice
system — including serving time in American prison for the crimes
he’s committed.”
Abrego Garcia's attorneys asked Xinis to order the government to
take him to Maryland upon his release from jail, an arrangement that
would prevent his deportation before trial. Abrego Garcia lived in
Maryland for more than a decade, working construction and raising a
family.
Xinis is still considering that request. Guynn told the judge on
Monday that she doesn’t have the jurisdiction to decide where Abrego
Garcia would be detained. Xinis responded by asking why she couldn’t
order an “interim step” to ensure that Abrego Garcia isn’t “spirited
away again.”
Anrew Rossman, an attorney for Abrego Garcia, said he should be
given notice and an opportunity to challenge his removal in court.
“That’s the baseline of what we’re asking for,” he added.
Meanwhile, Xinis denied the Trump administration's motion to dismiss
the lawsuit over Abrego Garcia's mistaken deportation.
The government had argued the litigation was moot because it
returned him to the U.S. Xinis said “the controversy” isn’t over
simply because he's back.
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