President Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed that it will deport illegal alien MS-13 gang thug Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he faces trial for human trafficking.
During a hearing Thursday, a Justice Department lawyer said he would be removed to a “third country” that is not his native El Salvador.
Now, Abrego Garcia wants to stay in jail in the United States to avoid deportation.
It’s the latest development in a legal saga that has featured prominently in the battle between the Trump administration and Democrats over immigration.
The federal case against Abrego Garcia accuses him of trafficking illegal aliens from Texas to the U.S. interior.
In 2022, Abrego Garcia was suspected of smuggling during a traffic stop in Tennessee but was not charged at the time.
The administration has also been prosecuting a case in the court of public opinion, citing evidence of Abrego Garcia’s MS-13 ties.
Trump is accusing Democrats who have defended him of having a soft spot for violent criminals.
The Trump administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. this month to face criminal charges.
It came following weeks of pressure from courts to reverse his “mistaken” deportation to his native land.
The illegal alien had been living in Maryland for years when he was removed to his country of origin.
The deportation sparked a furious backlash from Democrats who accused Trump of ignoring due process.
The judge in Abrego Garcia’s criminal case in Tennessee was prepared to release him from jail.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes insists that he wasn’t a flight risk or a danger to the community, despite his violent history.
But the judge reversed course after the Trump administration told a different judge in Maryland that he is facing removal to a country other than El Salvador.
“We do plan to comply with the orders we’ve received from this court and other courts,” Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.
“But there’s no timeline for these specific proceedings.”
The move would conceivably allow the government to skirt a 2019 “withholding of removal” barring Abrego Garcia’s deportation to his native country.
A Supreme Court ruling this week permitted Trump to deport aliens to third countries that are not their nations of origin.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia have asked the judge in Tennessee to delay his release from jail, saying the government’s intentions are unclear.
The Justice Department initially gave no timeline, which led Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to claim he is facing deportation “immediately,” but the DOJ clarified that he would face trial first.
The Trump administration said that there is nothing shocking about his potential deportation, since Abrego Garcia was never granted asylum.
He instead won a limited form of relief blocking his deportation to El Salvador specifically.
Ironically, a judge protected Abrego Garcia from deportation because he faced threats from rival gang members in his native El Salvador.
However, Abrego Garcia could now be deported to any other country that is willing to receive him.
“Given that the Defendant was first deemed deportable back in 2019 — and a copy of that order was made an exhibit to the detention hearing by the Defendant’s previous counsel — this should not be a surprise to the defense and is certainly not a surprise to this Court,” prosecutors wrote.
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