US plans to initiate Abrego Garcia removal proceedings, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors said Thursday they are planning to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a new country after he is released from a Tennessee jail. 

Abrego Garcia was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order from a judge protecting him from removal to his home country, citing a history of gang threats against his life.

But as Abrego Garcia’s family pushed in a Maryland courtroom to have him returned to his home state, federal prosecutors said once he is in immigration custody, he will be sent to a third country.

During the hearing, federal prosecutors said such plans are “not imminent” but that Abrego Garcia could face deportation to any country other than El Salvador.

The remarks come as the Department of Homeland Security has sought to send a number of migrants not to their home country but rather to facilities in conflict-prone nations such as South Sudan and Libya.

After the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, Abrego Garcia was brought back to Tennessee on human trafficking judges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in the state where he claimed to be transporting workers.

The Department of Justice has charged him with unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens and a related conspiracy charge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville said he has a right to be released while awaiting trial, determining he did not appear to be a flight risk or danger to the community. 

She set conditions for release that would have Abrego Garcia live with his brother, a U.S. citizen, in Maryland, though she has held off on releasing him amid concerns that prosecutors can’t prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him.

“I have no reservations about my ability to direct the local U.S. attorney’s office,” the judge said. “I don’t think I have any authority over Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to direct the government to transport him to Maryland until the trial proceedings begin.

“If this court does not act swiftly, then the government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland,” Abrego Garcia’s attorney wrote to Xinis, as reported by the Associated Press.

Xinis is presiding over a lawsuit against the Trump administration filed by Abrego Garcia’s wife over his wrongful removal to El Salvador earlier this year.

—Updated at 5:03 p.m. EDT. The Associated Press contributed.